Many often a child hears like “oh, you speak so slowly” or “maybe, you are habitual nervous.” These are heard so often, so frequently that they become so cliche! Parents and family members of a child should ignore them outright, but make sure you are not ignoring stuttering therapy.
Stuttering is a condition that disrupts the normal flow of speech, which occurs by involuntary repetitions or prolongations of sounds, syllabus, words or phrases, sound blocks, interjections, or revisions. Modern speech and language therapy has found multiple mutations on several chromosomes that correspond to stuttering.
So, What are the Ways You can do to Help Your Child Who Stutters?
Well, you can definitely help your child practice stuttering therapy exercises at home. But consulting with a professional speech and language therapy specialist is highly recommended. First of all, they would do a thorough diagnosis to find out the root cause of the stuttering problem in your child.
Who is at a High Risk of Stuttering?
Children tend to experience stuttering when starting to learn a new language or expand their vocabulary at a rapid pace. Many of them overcome this condition on their own, but higher chances are, it can become a lifelong condition for most of them if not treated timely by a professional speech and language therapy specialist.
Risks Involved
The risk factors are like a child who begins to stutter later, e.g. after three and a half years of their birth, has a higher chance of persistent stuttering, or a girl who has been stuttering for more than 12 months is at a higher risk of persistent stuttering. An incidence of stuttering for more than 12 months poses a great risk.
Signs of Stuttering in a Child
See a few signs that are hard to miss.
- Difficulty in starting a word, phrase, or a sentence
- Repetition of words
- Difficulty in swallowing
- Rapid or abrupt blinking
- Tightening of facial muscles
- Trembling or twitching of the lips and/or jaw
How to Reduce Stuttering Conditions in a Child?
At Hope AMC, our pediatric speech and language therapy specialists are here to help you understand stuttering therapy and swallowing therapy and their implications. Find here three common speech and language therapy activities that you can help your child practice.
#1: Adopt a Slower Rate of Speech with Pauses
While talking to your child, try to talk to your child at a slower pace, but make sure to sound it natural. So, instead of your usual rushed speech, try to speak to your child slowly but with a natural tone.
#2: Introduce Syllabus – Timed Speech
If you see your child having difficulty speaking with a syllable-timed speech at first, practice speaking at a normal speed. You may add finite limits around each syllable during your daily conversations with your child.
#3: Increase Listening Time
Children who stutter or stammer may have difficulty expressing themselves. You can listen to what they are saying more intently as if it’s showing they are feeling you are indeed listening. Keep it doing daily and you can see it is making a significant difference in your child’s attitude toward his or her own speech.
At Hope AMC, our speech and language therapy specialists can help support the speech and language development of your child. They are well-equipped to use a variety of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices while keeping a child’s individual strengths, difficulties, language skills, positioning, vision, and motor skills in mind.
To consult with our speech and language therapy specialists, call +971-529997075 or mail to [email protected]
