Help For Stuttering
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Over the past year you waited for your four year old to stop stuttering. Now that he’s almost five you’re forced to consider that he mostly likely won’t grow out of it. He stutters much more often now and you can see that he’s getting more frustrated when he does it. What should you do next?
Early Intervention Is Best
Even though a whopping 80% of the 5% of all kids who stutter will eventually grow out of it, that still leaves quite a few kids who will continue to deal with stuttering as they get older. As with other speech and language disorders, it’s better to have the problem of seeking early intervention and not need it than the reverse. The longer speech and language problems go untreated, the more those problems can grow and develop over time.
Criteria for Treatment
There isn’t a one size fits all approach when it comes to speech therapy for stuttering. The severity of the stuttering, the social and psychological impact on the child who stutters, the family’s desired goals…all these factors play a part in what treatment will look like. No matter what, it takes a team effort between the family and the professional team to meet the goals of decreased or controlled stuttering.
Direct Treatment
There are two major methods of dealing with stuttering for preschoolers: direct and indirect. Direct treatment is to point out the stuttering and correct it right away. For example, “That was a nice sentence,” or conversely “That was a little rough huh?” The parent must do this in constant conversation, up to fifteen minutes in a day, every day. The child must also attend speech therapy at least once a week. Direct treatment can lessen, as long as the stuttering problem continues to improve.
Indirect Treatment
Indirect treatment is much more forgiving, and basically the opposite of direct treatment, obviously. In short, indirect treatment means to get the focus off the stuttering and just accept your kiddo for who they are. With the pressure off, the stuttering should naturally decrease. What does indirect treatment actually look like?
Treatment In The Home
–Talk slower: Talk to your kiddo without rushing. Wait a few seconds before you respond to them. This is far more effective than saying “slow down” or “try again.”
-Full listening: Give your kiddo more time when you’re really listening to him and he has your undivided attention.
-Asking questions: Instead of peppering your kiddo with questions, ask your question and wait for the answer. When he answers, give your own response and then wait for him to talk again.
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-Turn taking: Have the different members of the family model good conversation by taking turns talking and listening. Your kiddo will have an easier time talking when he knows people are going to listen to him.
–Building confidence: Be generous with praise whenever your kiddo does something good, but don’t just say “You did great.” Be descriptive. “Your sentence was clever and funny!” And it doesn’t just have to be about proper speech. Be just as lavish with praise with his other achievements,whether it’s in sports, schooling, singing, etc.
-Special times: Put aside some time regularly each day to communicate with your kiddo one on one. Turn off any distractions, like technology, and give him your full and undivided attention. Even just five minutes a day can make a huge difference.
-Normal rules apply: Don’t treat your kiddo any differently if he does something bad. Discipline him the same way as if he didn’t stutter.