STUTTERING

Speech/Language Activities for Home/Classroom Use

Susan Bastardo, M.S. CC-Sp

Identification and Management of Beginning Stuttering

• Affects about 5% of the population in early childhood years.
• Behavior will persist in approximately 20% of above population.

Indicators of Beginning Stuttering:

• Within-word repetitions (sound, syllable), occasional prolongations.
• More than two units per repetition.
• Episodic, varies from day to day, situation to situation.
• Has been occurring for less than one year.
• Dysfluencies exceed 10% of the words or syllables uttered with 2-3% within-word dysfluencies.
• Clusters of dysfluencies on adjacent words.

Indicators of chronic Stuttering:

• Sound prolongations, tense pauses, within-word repetitions, interruptions or cessation of articulator movement, airflow, or phonation.
• Negative emotional reactions, blinking, breaking of eye contact, admissions that he or she is having difficulty with speech.
• Similar or increased rates of stuttering in speech samples within and outside the clinic across several follow-up evaluations.

Strategies for parents to use at home:

• Do not draw attention to your child's speech by asking them to "slow down" or think about what they want to say.  This will just increase the pressure around talking.  Instead, listen patiently to what they are saying, and provide good eye contact.   
• Model slow, easy speech and a relaxed countenance when you speak with your child.
• Eliminate as many questions as possible. Instead, use leading statements or comments to elicit conversation. (e.g. instead of asking, “What did you do at Grandma’s today?” say “I’ll bet you and Grandma had fun today. You probably helped in the garden.”
• Pause for a second or two before answering questions from your child. This will slow the overall conversational rate.
• Simplify the length and complexity of the speech you use with your child.
• Reduce as many pressures and demands placed upon the child as possible, especially in the area of academic skills (math, literacy) and in the area of speech/language. Do not encourage or require fast paced responses to academic tasks.
• Help to reduce competition for speaking situations. Your child may feel that he/she needs to talk quickly to avoid being interrupted by siblings or other children. Maintain eye contact and let your child know that you are listening. If necessary, talk to the children about taking turns in conversations.