Stammering
Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership
What is stammering?
There are some core stammering features, however every child responds to stammering in their own way, therefore each child will have their own stammering behaviour. If your child has developed a stammer, you might notice one or more of the following features:
- Stretching sounds in words (“Can I have a ssssssweetie?“)
- Repeating parts of words several times (“Mu-mu-mu–mu-mummy.”)
- Repeating small whole words several times (“ I I I I I I I go to the park!”)
- Repetitions of single sounds or whole words e.g. ‘M-m-my name is …’ or ‘Can can can can I have a drink?’
- Getting stuck on the first sound of a word. You can see your child is trying to make a sound but it might take a few seconds to come out (“…..Can I have a snack.”)
- Signs of physical tension in your child’s face
- Putting extra effort into making sounds (obvious physical tension or increased volume)
- Disrupted breathing pattern
- Using body movements to help get a word out e.g. moving head/clenching fists
When should I be worried?
Stammering affects about 5% of children and usually occurs between the ages of two and five. While the majority of children will grow out of stammering, some children may be at increased risk of their stammer persisting. Here are some indicators that your child may be at risk of their stammer persisting:
your child's stammer has continued for more than a few months with no improvement, or has become worse
A family member stammers or used to stammer
Your child also has some speech sounds errors
What is the impact of having a stammer?
If your child is not aware of their stammer, the impact is likely to be low. If your child becomes aware, they may show embarrassment, upset, frustration or anger when their speech becomes less fluent. Your child may opt out of speaking in particular situations or may change what they say to make it easier. It is important for your child to get support from the speech and language therapy service to reduce the impact their stammer is having on them.
If your child has a stammer, it is important to seek support from a Speech and Language Therapist as early as possible so appropriate supports can be put in place. If you have concerns about your child, you can request support from us by visiting our Contacts page.
How Can I Help?
Pre-school Children
Slow down your pace – try to slightly slow the pace of your own talking. Imagine taking your talking down a gear! Wait a few moments after your child has finished talking before you respond. Try to pause more frequently and take longer pauses. Your own reduced pace will be more effective than asking your child to ‘slow down’. You are letting your child know through your relaxed pace that they have lots of time to talk.
Give your child your full attention – when you are able, try to give your child your full attention by crouching down and being face-to -face with them and show through your facial expression and body language that you’re listening and interested. Focus on what your child is saying and not how they are saying it.
Balance comments and questions – try not to ask too many questions. It can be more beneficial to comment on what your child has said/is doing and wait, giving them lots of time to respond.
Build your child’s confidence – use descriptive phrases to build your child’s confidence e.g. ‘You made sure your sister was ok after she fell – you’re so kind’
Have ‘special times’ with your child – Try to have five minutes of one-to-one time with your child each day when you can give undivided attention to your child. This calm time, with no other distractions (TV, phone, siblings etc), and where your child knows they have your undivided attention, can be very helpful for your child’s fluency.
Take turns within the family – encourage everyone to wait and take their turn. Children find it easier to talk when they are less likely to be interrupted or distracted.
School-aged Children
Try to talk with your child about their speech when they want to or if they appear aware that talking feels hard for them.
It’s hard not to worry, but try to be positive about your child’s talking. Helping your child to talk openly about their talking and showing your child you are relaxed as opposed to anxious will help them to feel the same way too.
Try not to finish words and sentences for your child. Offer your child reassurance in the moment of talking, acknowledging talking can be tricky at times. Try to find the balance with this by also offering practical support to get through the moment of stammer, for example, by letting your child know you are still listening by maintaining eye contact and allowing them extra time to finish their sentence.
Focus on what your child is saying rather than on how they’re saying it.
Slow down your own rate of talking by ‘taking talking down a gear!’ and by pausing more often and for longer. This will help to reduce any time pressure your child might feel.
Avoid asking your child to ‘slow down’ or ‘take a deep breath’. Although well-meaning it will be very hard for your child to slow down and unnatural deep breaths may become part of the struggle to talk.
Increase your child’s confidence by using descriptive praise e.g. ‘You made sure your sister was ok after she fell – you’re so kind’.
Try to use more comments than questions. Comment on what your child has said/is doing then wait. Give your child lots of time to respond. If you do ask a question, only ask one at a time and again give your child lots of time to respond.
Trusted Websites and Resources
Information for Education staff on how to support a child who stammers in the class setting can be found here: https://michaelpalincentreforstammering.org/resources/for-teachers/
The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering also has a helpful video clip for Education staff which can be found here: https://michaelpalincentreforstammering.org/
www.stamma.org and www.actionforstammeringchildren are both excellent sources of information and advice. The Scottish Stammering Network (www.stammeringscotland.org) also hold regular open days.
