When do I need to have a speech evaluation done on my daughter?

Question

My daughter "M" is 3.5. She has been stuttering now for about 9 months. My oldest daughter went through it too, but she grew out of it within about 6 months. M will try to say something and it might take 2 minutes to get out one sentence. She will stutter on a single word and then sometimes have to start the sentence over a few times. For example, "Mommy, I saw saw saw saw saw saw, Mommy, I saw, I saw, I saw a turtle outside." She is not frustrated with the stuttering at this point.

She also has a number of sound substitutions in words, like "sirsty" for thirsty, "someping" for something, says w for the sound of r, etc. I know that some of those are developmental, but then I think that if she has all these things working together that maybe she needs to be evaluated. I don't know if I should keep waiting it out or go ahead and get a referral. She has a very full vocabulary and we can understand her and strangers can usually understand her, but do I keep waiting?

Answer 1

Hi,

My daughter is 5 now and in preschool. She had her first speach test in Kindergarten at age 4. She doesnt stutter but she does pronouce things wrong and she also says "sumping" and things like "puter" instead of computer.
She also used to replace R with W... I think thats compeltely normal and she has now grown out of it.

She has however seen a speech evaluator this year in pre primary and they picked up a few problems, they said these would affect her work and learning (spelling, words, reading etc) if it was not fixed but the school have a class once a week to teach her the correct sounds and I dont have to do a thing!

I have to say it is NEVER too soon to get speech help, especially if your worried about the stuttering. It may get better but it also may not, so why not just get help just incase! As she gets older it will also get difficult for her especialy when she starts school... so I guess if you can figure something out before then it will be very benificial.

Also starting now she will learn to adapt to new techniques faster (kids learn quicker the younger they are) but as she gets older she will be more against the idea...

I think you should go ahead, never let anyone else tell you whats best for your kids!

Just do what you think is right! Us mothers usually know, and I think your daughter would benifit immensly if you get her some help now! It will follow on to her her whole learning experience in the future and just a little bit of time now could well make the difference when she grows up.

Good luck

Answer 2

The Stuttering Foundation has a risk factors chart on their web site. They also have this on their site:

"Q: When should you get professional help for a stuttering child?
A: If your child has been stuttering 3-6 months and is older than age 3, it’s a good idea to have your child’s speech and language skills evaluated. Even if you and the speech- language pathologist decide that therapy isn’t needed at this time, you now have a baseline example of your child’s communication skills that you can compare back to later. If your child is still stuttering a year after you first noticed it, speech therapy may be needed. Keep in mind, though, that it’s not uncommon for older children to take a break from therapy at times. For older children, therapy is probably needed if your child is showing reluctance to participate in the classroom, having difficulty interacting with peers, or the stuttering is getting in the way of your child completing regular classroom activities like show-and-tell or giving a book report."

Answer 3

I was a preschool teacher for nine years. It's probably a good idea to have it checked by your pediatrician.
I had a little girl in my class a few years ago who went through the same thing...older sibling stuttered for a while and stopped and then she did it, too. Their doctor said it could actually be an attention thing. She doesn't feel like she's getting enough attention so she tries to get through her sentence too quickly. Then she trips over the words. The
other stuff...totally normal!
I still might have it checked. Good luck!

Answer 4

It wont hurt to have her evaluated but they may not do therapy right now. many children do this for a while then stop, just like you said your other child did. my son is in speech therapy for stuttering and there is a lot you can do at home. First-talk slowly, and pause when possible. like "we are going..to the store. don't talk "robotic slow" but slow down, take pauses and even pause before responding to her questions. she will see its OK to gather your thoughts before speaking. read lots of nursery rhymes to her (not too fast) these have that great rhythm.
play memory with her and just have her say the 2 pictures she sees. "bugs and birds" you say it slow and kinda slide the words together. then she will repeat it.
If she does not realize she is stuttering don't point it out but if she knows it and feels bad then tell her you will help her and then ask her to repeat it slowly. For instance say " can you try that again?" have her repeat one part at time first "mommy, I saw" then "a turtle outside" then ask her to repeat it all together slowly
good luck

Answer 5

First you need to make useful that she would not have a listening to project. If she isn't listening to the words of course, she is going to declare them like she hears them. If there is not any listening to project, she maximum in all possibility has an articulation project. My 4 (just about 5 y/o) has this and he gets speech scientific care from his headstart classification. His project is that he speaks to quickly now and back. hence no longer taking the time to declare his words correct. We paintings with him at living house, only going approximately customary corporation. while he's asserting some thing incorrectly, we end him and teach him a thank you to declare it, overemphasizing the be conscious if needed. he will then think of extra approximately how the be conscious is declared and say it wisely. If she is in school, refer to her instructor approximately getting her some speech scientific care. It has worked wonders for my son. sturdy success!!

Answer 6

Most likely it is something she'll grow out of but in some cases there is an underlying issue. I do recommend taking her to the school district and having her tested.

My 11 yo can't pronounce her "or" combinations correctly. I thought it was adorable, she didn't like it. This year we had her tested and found out she also has an auditory problem to go with it. So now they're working on getting rid of her sound displacement and working on the auditory problem as well.

Answer 7

Your best source of information about stuttering is The Stuttering Foundation. Here is what they say about it:

"Certain factors may place children at risk for stuttering. Knowing these factors will help you decide whether or not your child needs to see a speech-language pathologist.

Family history
There is now strong evidence that almost half of all children who stutter have a family member who stutters. The risk that your child is actually stuttering instead of just having normal disfluencies increases if that family member is still stuttering. There is less risk if the family member outgrew stuttering as a child.


Age at onset
Children who begin stuttering before age 3 1/2 are more likely to outgrow stuttering; if your child begins stuttering before age 3, there is a much better chance she will outgrow it within 6 months.



Time since onset
Between 75% and 80% of all children who begin stuttering will stop within 12 to 24 months without speech therapy. If your child has been stuttering longer than 6 months, he may be less likely to outgrow it on his own. If he has been stuttering longer than 12 months, there is an even smaller likelihood he will outgrow it on his own.



Gender
Girls are more likely than boys to outgrow stuttering. In fact, three to four boys continue to stutter for every girl who stutters. Why this difference? First, it appears that during early childhood, there are innate differences between boys' and girls' speech and language abilities. Second, during this same period, parents, family members, and others often react to boys somewhat differently than girls. Therefore, it may be that more boys stutter than girls because of basic differences in boys' speech and language abilities and differences in their interactions with others. That being said, many boys who begin stuttering will outgrow the problem. What is important for you to remember is that if your child is stuttering right now, it doesn't necessarily mean he or she will stutter the rest of his or her life.



Other speech and language factors
A child who speaks clearly with few, if any, speech errors would be more likely to outgrow stuttering than a child whose speech errors make him difficult to understand. If your child makes frequent speech errors such as substituting one sound for another or leaving sounds out of words, or has trouble following directions, you should be more concerned. The most recent findings dispel previous reports that children who begin stuttering have, as a group, lower language skills. On the contrary, there are indications that they are well within the norms or above. Advanced language skills appear to be even more of a risk factor for children whose stuttering persists3.
These risk factors place children at higher risk for developing stuttering. If your child has any of these risk factors and is showing some or all of the warning signs mentioned previously, you should be more concerned. You may want to schedule a speech screening with a speech therapist who specializes in stuttering. The therapist will decide whether your child is stuttering, and then determine whether to wait a bit longer or begin treatment right away."

Answer 8

Call your local public school system and get your daughter a free evaluation done by a licensed speech language pathologist... or call your pediatrician and get a referral to a speech therapist. I would definitely call the school first because they are more likely to get your daughter seen quicker. I think you should do this right away to rule out any other problems. It would at least ease your mind.

Answer 9

I'd take her to a docter and see what they reccemend. The sooner the better. I was watching the Discovery Channel and they can place this thing in your ear that makes you talk without stuttering. It's cool. Just ask a docter. They know best.

Answer 10

She simply needs to be taught to slow down when she speaks. Her little mind is going a mile a minute and she can't keep up with it...Just get down to her level and have her take a breath with each word she wants to say.