My 3 year Old is Stuttering - What Can I Do?

Parents often raise this question. Parents typically notice that their child stutters more when they are tired, excited, frustrated or upset - this is more common among children than you may think. 

Firstly, let's talk about what stuttering is. Stuttering is when there are frequent repetitions in a child's speech. There are different types of stuttering, as below:
- sound repetitions (e.g. "a-a-apple")
- word repetitions (e.g. "apple-apple-apple")
- phrase repetitions (e.g. "eat apple-eat apple")
- blocks (e.g. stuck on the 'a' sound in apple such that the rest of the word does not come out)
- prolongations (e.g. "applllllllllllllle")

If you hear one or more of the above examples when your child speaks, and they are below the age of 3 years, it is possible that this may stop by itself (in clinical terms, we call this 'spontaneous recovery'). However, this is not always the case. 

If your child is 3 years or younger, Speech Therapy is not recommended to address the stuttering, as children do not yet have the cognitive skills required for this.

In the meantime, here are some things you can do as a parent at home instead:

1. Model - At this young age, children learn to speak by listening to others speak around them. As a parent, you are your child's main language model. Try to be mindful to model speaking at a slow rate. Stuttering is less likely to occur when we speak slowly. 

2. Remind - It may be helpful to remind your child to speak slowly before they answer a question which you have asked or before they tell you a story. Doing this will remind them before they speak, which will set them up to succeed in the moment.

3. Pause - Try to pause before you answer your child's questions, to model this behaviour to them. When we pause, we take a moment to gather our thoughts, which reduces cognitive load while talking, and in turn reduces the likelihood of stuttering. Encourage your child to pause during interactions - the way I do this is with the prompt, "stop, think, say". You can use this prompt paired with gestures using your hands for a visual reminder too.

4. Monitor - Continue monitoring your child's speech over time. If concerns persist beyond the age of 3.5 years, then it is best to then consult with a Speech Therapist. The Speech Therapist will do an initial evaluation for your child's speech and make recommendations about the next steps from there. 

Speak soon,
The Expat Speechie