Mother of six year old child who stammers

[harvestwidow]

I have a six year old son who stammers and has recently begun blocking by holding his mouth open or making facial grimaces. Can anyone tell me what the next step is in helping him? He is in speech therapy at school but I don't feel this is enough. He is also in Ocupational therapy for some motor delays yet he is very intelligent and seems to be keeping up with his peers quite well intellectually. Anyone with any information you think might help, please pass it on :confused:

[peikayla]

Hello Harvestwidow,
My Name is Kayla MacLean, I'm 17 years old and I have stuttered since I first learned how to talk.
The main thing that I can tell you is to encourage your Child and don't put him/her down or get mad at him/her because he/her stutters. Always be there for them and encourage them to talk even though it might take them longer to say what they want to. My parents are the total opposite and I wish they were this way. Because of them telling me not to speak if I can't do it fluently I am not a very social person. Also Telling your child to slow down isn't very good unless they find it helps, I mother is always telling me slow down, but slowing down makes no difference in my speech. Always incourage them to speak his mind and talk about how he is feeling because that will also help, I have so much emotion that at night I cry because If I do it in front of my parents they tell me to grow up and stop being a baby. You just have to try and understand what they are going through and be there for them. This should help there isn't much else you can do unless you want to put them in more therapy or by him/her an expensive device. Hope This helps!

[studentdoc]

I wouldn't acknowledge it too much ... making him conscious every time he speaks will only make it worse. I caught stuttering by imitating someone for a while. Then I tried to stop it everything I spoke and here I am 20 years later....

[Standingtall]

I am in the same boat. I have twin girls who are 4 and one of them is repeating her words more and longer. I am doing everything I have learned so far, not rushing her or stopping her or telling her to slow down, etc.. From a father side, all the love and TLC, I can. The speech specialist, she might out grow it, because she is still pretty young, but I can't help but worry. The thing is, she doesn't stutter hardly at all when she is playing with her sister. The other twin stutters, but not as bad.

[Perad]

I have a six year old son who stammers and has recently begun blocking by holding his mouth open or making facial grimaces. Can anyone tell me what the next step is in helping him? He is in speech therapy at school but I don't feel this is enough. He is also in Ocupational therapy for some motor delays yet he is very intelligent and seems to be keeping up with his peers quite well intellectually. Anyone with any information you think might help, please pass it on :confused:

Firstly a stammer isn't the end of the world, i have seen some parents get really stressed about it, its not that bad.

His grimaces are because he is trying to force out the word. Its like pushing against a wall, it takes a lot of effort. A speech therapist can sort this out though, he has to be taught not to attempt to push through a "block".

One thing you should be aware of... spech therapists are not always that good, when i was young i was "grouped" with several kids with lisps and other things. I got nothing from that group. To get proper results you really need a speech therapist that specialises in stuttering children. They will get the best results.

Also you might want to try to help yourself, i'm sure there are several books out there with techniques and activities. Just sit your boy down and practice with him. Practice makes perfect as they ;)

Standingtall, she is comfortable with her sister because they are very close, its unlikely she will stammer much with her because the situation isn't very stressful.

[Standingtall]

Thanks Perad, I understand where you are coming from. Twins have a very close bond with each other and i'm glad they will have each other in their lives. They understand each other very well, better than siblings at a different ages. They both stutter, but there has been improvements over the past few weeks.

Have you heard from Harvestwidow, since the first post in Feb, 2005.

[lori]

Hello, I am new to the forum, and I'm so thankful for finding it. I am a mother of identical twin boys. One started to stutter at age 4. At the time he just stopped talking to avoid stuttering. We found a great speech therapist, and I'm happy to say that after a full year of One-on-One therapy, a home full of love, and a no pressure home, (as low stress as possible) our son has made leaps and bounds of an improvement. So much so that his kindergarden teacher and now 1st grade teacher both did not know of his situation until I gave them brochures on "teaching a student that stutters." Now it seems that his stutter only returns when he is overly tired, sick, or nervous about a new event. However, it is only my husband and I (and the other twin) that notices his "bumpy" speech.
I was wondering if any parents have ever tried a vitamin routine? Pro's Con's? I wanted to know if there is something more than a Flinstone's vitamin that I should try to add to his supplement. I would do anything for my son to try to help him continue his success.
Thank you in advance.

[jamesm]

Like others have said, don't make it such a big deal. Dont stress about HIS situation. Pay attention to the feelings that HE has about his stuttering and not about YOUR feelings about his stuttering. I know this is very difficult to do, but later in life ultimately it is HIS acceptance with stuttering that is the main thing. I am no speech therapist, but I think children learn by watching best. So, I would recommend you speaking slower and more relaxed while around him. DONT put him through hours and hours of speech therapy at school! I honestly think that being that young and having people basically telling you there is something wrong with you is not a good thing and maybe propels his stuttering into something that is more of a "problem" than it really is. Taking a child out of a class room in the middle of a lesson so he can go sit in a room with a speech therapist who is simultaneously helping others with many disorders only installs feelings that he IS different than a "regular" child and shows his classmates that he gets special treatment for his "stutter" and reinforces any beliefs that other children may have about your son. DO let him know that people stutter, they have since the beginning of speech in humanity and they will continue to do so. It's not the end of the world, some people lose their stutter, etc. DONT STRESS! DOING SO WILL ONLY MAKE HIS STUTTER WORSE! JUST LOVE HIM! BE HAPPY HE DOESNT HAVE A DISEASE OR LIFE THREATENING SITUATION! HE JUST STUTTERS! THATS IT! LET HIM LIVE and BE HAPPY!

[lori]

Jamesm, Thank you so much for your response. I 100% agree with you. We are so blessed to have him in our lives. He is precious to us. And I agree-We are not placing him in any school therapy. And we even stopped the home speech therapy two years ago. I was really trying to find other parents who tried vitamin supplements to assist their children. Again, I thank you for your response.
;)

[rodnorp]

Dont stress. Let him grow. everything is going to turn out ok.

[jamesm]

your welcome lori, but my response was more for harvestwidow :)
-cheers