Stuttering all of a sudden

One of our girls (H) is a great talker and even has 8-10 word sentences sometimes. All of a sudden (early this week) she (H) began stuttering with the first word of her sentence. For example "M-m-m-m-m-m-m-my kleenex" or "n-n-n-n-n-no more thank you". Before this week, she had no problems with saying what she needed to say. Her sister (N) doesn't speak as much as H and sometimes will stutter when she is trying to get a word out. Could H be doing this because she has heard her sister doing it? I spoke with their daycare teacher and she said she is probably just getting really excited and thinking quicker than she can speak.

Anyone have this experience?

 

We went through the same thing with our oldest. It was definitely an issue of his brain working faster than his mouth and he eventually grew out of it. It didn't come without a lot of frustration and worry on both ends, though. Even now, our two year old will sometimes do the same thing. I think they know what they want to say, but just can't get their brains and mouths to work in sync. I'd keep an eye on things, and if it gets worse or she doesn't grow out of it maybe you could talk to your pedi.

 

Leah did that for awhile at about that age. I read that is was very common and not to make a big deal out of it like trying to finish the sentence or pointing it out. It did go away. I would have brought it up to the Ped, but it was gone by her 3 YO WBV. I would keep an eye on it and if it is getting worse or she is getting really frustrated, I would call the Ped.

 

I had a friend whose DD did this for awhile too. She finally took her to the dr. and he said it was just her brain working faster than she could talk. She was glad she called the ped about it, but it was frustrating for her while her DD did it. I would say she stopped around age 4 and has not stuttered since. :good:

 

Two of mine went through this phase around this same age. It does pass! Don't call attention to it, the mouth will catch up to the brain before you know it! :hug:

 

I wouldn't get TOO concerned. I think that it's a matter of their brain working ahead of their ability to spit the words out! If it continues, by all means talk to the pedi about it, but a friend of mine had that bad with her son and it was nothing. My son as done it too. Just too excited to know what he wants to say and then can't spit it out! :hug: I think it's pretty common!

 

Sofia did that for a while. My SIL is a speech therapist and she said that if we wanted to help, one technique is to talk back to them very very slowly (almost to the point of exaggeration). We did that and it did seem to help, but I think mainly it's just some phase they go through.

 

Like pp's have said it's pretty common, and more so in children who talk a lot from a young age. Your daughter is likely to grow out of it although if you are worried you could talk to your doctor.

Alyssa developed a stammer when she was about 2 and her parents did end up seeking help for it. I think mostly that just eased their minds-she didn't need to have regular therapy, but we got some rules and exercises and she had a couple of follow-up visits to check that she was progressing. She is fine now and was discharged from ST last summer.
The main points that we were told were:

• Give her time to talk-Never fill in words or finish her sentences (don't let her twin do this for her either).
• Don't tell her to slow down/take a breath etc-This can draw attention to the stutter and make her more aware/self-conscious of it.
• Slow down your speech and talk clearly-This is just a sort of role modeling to get her to copy you. Also try and use short, simple sentences.
• Pause before replying to her-Not for ages, it's just to show that it's ok to stop and think before you reply, again role modeling.
• Make sure everyone gets a turn to talk, don't allow interruptions-This was a big thing for us, often if they were excited about something they would be talking over each other and trying to go fast.
• Some children stutter worse when they are tired

We were also told to have one-on-one time (we called it special time and did it with Bryony too, at different times obviously) every day for 10 minutes. We would let A pick the activity (no TV or books though) and just talk with her as we went along.

HTH!

 

One of my sons began stuttering at age 3. He displayed many of the "danger signs" (he squeezed his eyes shut and tensed up his face in order to get sounds out -- they would finally come out as a yell) and we eventually took his to a speech therapist who helped tremendously. He was in speech therapy for 3 years and is now doing great. He only stutters now when he's very tired or very stressed.

Lots of pediatricians will say not to worry before age 5, but we took our son in early because at 3 he was not self-conscious about the stuttering. He was frustrated and it upset him, but he wasn't embarrassed about it. We wanted him to get speech therapy BEFORE it started affecting his sense of self and he started school (with the whole terrifying prospect of school yard teasing).

Stuttering is very common in young children. Most of the time it's simply a matter of the brain working faster than the mouth can, especially when the child is tired or in a stressful situation (like a crowded party, preschool, a lively dinner), and the dysfluency (stuttering) will clear up on it's own within a few weeks or months.

Because the longer a child has been stuttering, the less likely he is to stop, it's important to figure out whether your son is experiencing normal dysfluencies or something more serious.

Normal disfluencies are repetitions of whole words and phrases (like Amanda's son), false starts and revisions in their sentences, and frequent interjections of uh’s and um’s.

Of much more concern are the following types of disfluencies, which can be considered danger signs that a stuttering pattern is developing:

* Frequent syllable or sound repetitions ("bi-bi-bi-bicycle" or "t-t-t-t-time")
* Substitution of a weak vowel (called the schwa vowel) for the true vowel in a repeated syllable ("buh-buh-buh-bicycle")
* Prolongation of sounds ("mmmmmmmmama")
* Tremors in the small muscles around the mouth, eyes or jaw as the child tries to say a word on which he seems to be stuck
* Visible signs of struggle and tension when a child blocks on a word (e.g., squeezing the eyes shut, rapidly blinking, distorting the position of the mouth, tongue or jaw)
* A rise in pitch or loudness level on sounds being prolonged or repeated


Here are some do’s and don’ts in interacting with a stuttering child:

Do:

* Allow the child time to get his thoughts expressed, regardless of his repetitions and revisions.
* Look at the child when he is talking to you and demonstrate your interest in what he is saying, not how he is saying it. Pause for a moment after he's finished, and repeat back what he said to you slowly and calmly.
* Keep the child interested in talking by making speech fun and rewarding (use songs, rhymes, games involving speech, etc.).
* Model a calm, slow manner of talking and try to convey a reassuring, unhurried manner when talking with the child.
* Minimize stress and anxiety provoking situations at home and at school.
* Become aware of any patterns or circumstances that seem related to a child’s stuttering and modify them if possible.
* Convey understanding, acceptance and reassurance if a child expresses concern about his stuttering.


Don’t:

* Finish a sentence or word for him because you know what he is trying to say.
* Give the impression that you are alarmed or disappointed because of his stuttering.
* Force a child to speak or recite before strangers or visitors.
* Point out to the child that he is stuttering, tell him to "stop stuttering" or ask him to "say it again without stuttering."
* Give suggestions that require the child to do something before he speaks, such as "Stop and think about what you want to say before you say it," or "Take a deep breath and try it again."
* Suggest that the child substitute an "easy" word for a word he is having trouble saying.
* Let stuttering become an excuse to avoid responsibilities.
* Allow anyone to tease or mock a child about his stuttering.

One thing we did in our house was put a big emphasis on taking turns talking. No interrupting when someone is speaking. With excited twins, that's HARD, but it's been worth all the work. An easy way around that is to make time to spend alone with each kid. Whether that means taking only one with you to the grocery store, or reading a story in another room with one kid. That was not only great for my son's stuttering, but also really nice for me to get to spend that kind of time, no matter how short, with just one child at a time.

If your daughter is displaying any of the "danger signs" look in to getting speech therapy for her. You might want to wait 6 months or so to be sure that it's not just a phase. Most likely, she will move through this phase in a few weeks/months, but if you are concerned, I highly recommend having her evaluated. If only to reassure yourself that all is well.

Hope this helps. Feel free to send me a message if you have more questions smile

 

One of my girls did this and when I saw this thread I realized that it almost never happens anymore. It started back in the fall and went on for several weeks (a couple of months?) and I felt so bad for her because she just couldn't get the words out. I did believe that she was just thinking faster than she could talk, but it did make me wonder.

 

My oldest did it during 2 separate time periods when she was 3. I had a call in for an eval, but by the time they got back to me she was fine, the stutter was gone. She's 6 and it hasn't been back.