advise for mother of a stuttering child

[tehjo]

Hi- i have been reading this forum with interest. I do not stutter but my 2.5 year old daughter does. I am doing all the research I can about stuttering in an effort to help her, and came across your forum. She was until a couple of months ago, what I would term a severe stutterer. She would repeat words up to 30 times, clench her fists, make faces, use other words than the one she wanted, etc. (she is overwise very advanced verbally.) Her playgroup playmates would mock her and it broke my heart. I found a wonderful therapist for her near our home (who treats only stutterers) who has almost erased her stutter- now she only mildly stutters, but I do see it creeping back now and then. What I would like to know from you guys is what you feel parents can do to help a child that stutters? What did your parents do or not do that you think would have made a differance? I feel hopeful that because of her age and the success of her therapy that we can work on it enough for her to overcome it, but I want to make sure I do all that I can, especially while she is so young.

Your insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks-
Stephanie

[studentdoc]

Hi- i have been reading this forum with interest. I do not stutter but my 2.5 year old daughter does. I am doing all the research I can about stuttering in an effort to help her, and came across your forum. She was until a couple of months ago, what I would term a severe stutterer. She would repeat words up to 30 times, clench her fists, make faces, use other words than the one she wanted, etc. (she is overwise very advanced verbally.) Her playgroup playmates would mock her and it broke my heart. I found a wonderful therapist for her near our home (who treats only stutterers) who has almost erased her stutter- now she only mildly stutters, but I do see it creeping back now and then. What I would like to know from you guys is what you feel parents can do to help a child that stutters? What did your parents do or not do that you think would have made a differance? I feel hopeful that because of her age and the success of her therapy that we can work on it enough for her to overcome it, but I want to make sure I do all that I can, especially while she is so young.

Your insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks-
Stephanie
In all honesty, I recommend to leave it alone. It is quite normal for youngsters to stutter and lose it - unless it becomes a huge deal and they consciously have to think about it as a speech therapist will tell them to do. It is a big decision and risk - but if I were you, I would just let her be until she is older and see how it turns out. The whole consciously thinking before speaking and all that builds this compound problem later on that is just hardwired. I say try and make it naturally go away (as it does in MANY) and if it doesn't after a few years, go with a therapist. And I thought about it that making it a big deal by seeing a therapist,etc. (I did) and not succeeding just made me feel hopeless. I don't know if things would've been different. Let's see what others recommend.

[Vermillion]

-Read to her bedtime stories. Then allow her to read some back to you. Do this every night.
-Do not interrupt her when she is talking
-DO NOT LET ANYONE TELL HER THAT SHE HAS A PROBLEM--this will make her self-conscious about her speech and it could develop into chronic stuttering
-Develop her self-esteem/self-confidence by complimenting her often
-Don't allow her to develop stranger anxiety. A baby will learn stranger anxiety from their parent's facial cues. If YOU are anxious when meeting strangers, your kid will take your cue and feel anxious too.

[Gary1450]

I would also tell the teachers as she gets older to keep tabs on her speech. Hopefully she'll just out grow it.