I think my child is stuttering- should I be worried? This is a question I frequently receive from parents of young children. More often than not, the answer to this question is “No.” Between the ages of 2 and 5, many children experience periods of dysfluency. The dysfluencies of a typical preschooler may be characterized by the presence of interjections (e.g., There’s the- uh- ball), revisions (e.g., I want my – where’s my Mommy), and/or word repetitions (e.g., Where’s my-my milk). These short interruptions in fluency are referred to as developmental stuttering. Developmental stuttering is generally not a cause for concern.
Many believe that developmental stuttering is the result of increased demands on the speech and language system as a child acquires language. In other words, there is so much little Joey wants to say, but his verbal skills are not quite developed enough to be able to fully express everything he is thinking. There are certain factors that are thought to increase normal dysfluency. These include a life change (such as the birth of a new sibling or the divorce of parents), a disruption of life (such as moving to a new town or starting at a new school), or even simply excitement while speaking.
Developmental stuttering is different from regular stuttering in that the typically dysfluent child appears to be generally unaware of his dysfluencies. And if he is aware, he is not upset about or frustrated by them. Additionally, a developmental stutterer usually does not exhibit secondary behaviors, such as eye blinks, loss of eye contact, or tensing of the jaw during the moments of dysfluency.
Here are a few tips for what to do if you think your child may be a developmental stutterer:
- Never finish your child’s sentence or cut him off during a dysfluent moment. Even if you know what he wants to say, allow him the time to complete the sentence on his own.
- Although you may be concerned, stressed, or even uncomfortable when your child is dysfluent, try as hard as possible not to let him see this. If you act like there is nothing unusual about his speech, your child is likely to remain confident and continue to speak despite his dysfluencies.
- During periods of increased dysfluency, try to eliminate or lessen time pressures from the environment as much as possible. For example, instead of asking your child to tell you about his day when you are at the dinner table and his other siblings want to speak too, wait to have that conversation when it is just the two of you- maybe before bed in his quiet bedroom.
Of course, if you are ever concerned about your child’s speech and language, specifically related to developmental stuttering, you should absolutely contact your local Speech-Language Pathologist. Most often, the SLP will ease your worries, provide you with some helpful tips, and send you on your way!
Marni Weinberg, MA, CCC-SLP