My son has a terrible stutter, will he outgrow it?

Question

My 6 year old has had a terrible stutter since he began speaking. He was late with starting to speak (about 2 and a half) and i wonder whether this plays any roll? The level of the stutter varies from day to day but today if has been extremly bad. We have attend speech theropy but this only intensified it as it made him nervous. We have also been to our family GP who just told us that he may out grow or it will be a permanant feature. Can anyone give me some advise on the subject as this is my experience with a speech problem.

Answer 1

Your best source of information on stuttering is The Stuttering Foundation at www.stutteringhelp.org. They have tips for parents of things you can do at home to help, a risk factors chart that helps you decide if/when a child needs to see a speech therapist who specializes in treating stuttering, online videos, referrals to specialists, tips about therapy, and more. Check your public library for their book "If Your Child Stutters: A Guide for Parents" or get it from the Foundation's estore. They also have a toll free hotline so you can talk to someone if you wish.

Answer 2

Sometimes a stutter is a temporary thing or only appears when the child is nervous or confused or anxious. Occasionally the stutter is permanent. In either case one of the best things you can do is ask relatives to act like it isn't happening and show no reaction at all, so as not to make him feel uneasy. He will be aware his stutter is not normal, and negative reactions may make matters worse or make him choose to be silent rather than allow people to poke fun.
If certain stressful times make the stutter worse, if you are alone just offer him comfort and ask him to slow down and speak slowly and deliberately. Speech therapists sometimes use singing as a remedy for stutters, since stutterers almost never stutter when singing. This can be a transitional stage to speaking the words without the stutter.

Answer 3

Well, a speech therapist is probably still his best bet. But he should look to it as fun, not as something to get nervous about. That is up to the speech therapist. My daughter goes to a speech therapist, her problem is kind of different, she doesn't know how to control her breathing while speaking or reading and she ends up hesitating, pausing, and will leave out sounds. One thing I've noticed, when she sings she doesn't do that. And most people who stutter also don't do it when they sing, like that singer, Mel Tillis. Think about getting him some voice lessons, voice teachers are really good at teaching speech and voice control, and it will be a fun activity for your son, not a chore. Just don't let him think he's going to singing lessons to correct his stutter, let him go to have fun, and who knows what kind of talent might develop! And yes, most kids who stutter do outgrow it.

Answer 4

My son was an early talker, age 12 months when forming full sentances, and he spoke fine till he was about 2, and then developed a stutter, which was very bad and horrible for him because he got very frustrated.
I wondered whether it was an hereditory thing, because both me and my dad have had a stutter, i grew out of mine during puberty, but my dad still has his as an adult.

My son is now 7 years old, and is showing signs of growing out of it, he stutters less and less, but can still have very bad days with it.

he has been going to speech therapy for 5 years, and he loves it because they play lots of games, and he adores his speech therapist.

is the reason that your son dislikes his speech therapy because he can tell that you are nervous about it?

If he is not getting on with the therapy, then get seen by another speech therapist, because they may have different ways of working.

Good luck, and i hope this helps!

Answer 5

Did the speech therapist use the singing technique? This is when someone learns to speak using the singing part of their brain as this part is not effected by the stutter. It can be very successful and worth investigating.

I hope things work out.

Answer 6

Invest in a small amplifier with built in echo and a microphone. Sing Karaoke with him and ask him to tell you stories talking through the microphone. Set the echo at a low setting and let him have fun. Never let him know you are doing this to help him. Let him believe its fun & games only.

He may be too young to get the full benefit of therapy right now but you can help build his self esteem and have loads of fun in the meantime. They make great karaoke disks for kids his age.

Good luck to you!

Answer 7

NO, he won't grow out of it. Yes speech therapy will make him self-conscious, but that's not the same as nervous. He will be nervous if/when all the kids make fun of him or ignore him. Get that child some help. You wouldn't take a sick kid out of the hospital because he didn't like shots.

Answer 8

Find out what kind stories he likes.....talk to and tell him you used to be like that as well....Be like "and what I did was when excited, its when it got worse.... and i discovered that by talking much more slowly it helped alot." Also if he is comfortable reading the short stories loud to you.... even better( make sure he is comfortable though...he is a boy so build his ego)
Tell him when he is alone in his room to read out loud and if he comes across a word that normally brings the problem to repeat slowly till he is comfortable with it.
But best of all when he stutters a word just be like "god i used to stutter on that word as well....then repeat it to him.
............be there for him....he will be alright....you are a good parent so dont panic...

Answer 9

GP's don't always have all the answers, he may outgrow it he may not.
He may not feel particularly comfortable with the current speech therapist, maybe you need to try a different one until you find one he feels good with. does his school have a speech teacher on staff?

Answer 10

Hi
Look at Prince Charles and the way he has over come his terrible stutter. After all it's not a crime