First, understand that what we call “developmental stuttering” is an appropriate stage that nearly all children go through, for either a short time or for what may feel like much longer. Most little ones, generally when they’re toddlers or preschoolers, go through a stage of completely normal dysfluency (stuttering). If you think about it, these children have so much to say - so much new knowledge, such rapid growth in vocabulary, as well as so much excitement – that their brains put out a great deal very quickly, and they’re trying to coordinate a complex speech (muscular) system along with grammar (syntax), vocabulary, and the concepts they’re trying to express. Basically, they cannot keep up with coordinating all of that. Thus, they repeat words and sounds, or add in “umm” or other placeholders as they try to express their messages.
It's imperative to know that this is normal and will resolve on its own in nearly all cases. Just allow a child in this phase of development time without pressure to get his message out. Be patient and responsive to what he has to say. Do not label it as a “stutter” or “trouble” or anything else and try not to be become aggravated. Generally speaking, the key here is to simply allow a child to work through the dysfluency on his own without negativity or concern. And keep in mind that the most important thing at this age/stage is that a child is communicating!
Second – to gain perspective on the issue – take some time to listen to yourself as you communicate. You will find that you stutter; we all do! A stutter is any kind of dysfluency we hear in speech. We all sometimes repeat words and initial sounds. We get part way through a sentence and then stop to completely restructure it. We add in “umm” or “like” or other similar filler words. We may pause mid-thought and change what we were saying. This is all dysfluency, and it’s normal.
But we find that someone who struggles with habitual, long-term “stuttering” – I wrestle with this label, so please bear with me – made some action, such as a head or hand twitch, one time when he got “stuck,” which just happened to coincide with getting through a difficult speech patch. For example, I tend to wave a hand, say, “Wait a second,” and take a deep breath to allow my brain to sort things out so I can rephrase. If such compensation becomes an ingrained habit, we refer to it as a “secondary characteristic.” These characteristics may become more socially challenging than the original stuck moment might have been, causing true interference in ongoing communication.
Here are some tips to get through dysfluencies with minimal interference in meaningful communication:
- Slow the rate of speech just a bit, to allow time for muscular coordination. You might cue a child into this by saying something like, “Wow, you’re really excited! Take a breath and tell me a bit more slowly so I can hear you well.” We don’t want this to sound negative; we merely want to improve a child’s ability to be clear. But if a child responds to this suggestion as a negative, you can model the idea by slowing your own speech. Humans tend to mimic the rate of speech of those with whom they’re communicating, so speaking more slowly with a child who might be showing dysfluencies will usually cause him to do the same;
- Use the easy-onset technique: take a breath and gently begin a word, softly drawing out the first sound (i.e., “Eeee-sy does it.”). The goal is to have a softer start to the first word because the increased breathiness in the starting sound reduces tension in the muscles involved in speech. This is a very powerful technique;
- Humming. For some who get “stuck,” humming the first sound just a little gets the muscles working together gently and starts the first word. I find this works best for a word on which a child is truly “stuck,” for which he may be repeating the first sound several times, particularly if you can see that he has a lot of muscle tension as he’s trying to get the word out. Muscle tension is definitely our enemy! But starting with the humming of the first sound (i.e., “MMMMMaybe I want to do that.”) gently starts the word rather than increasing muscle tension. As with easy onset, the goal is a soft and gentle onset of the word, rather than high muscle tension;
- Reduce possible stress around communication. Try to be patient and give a child all the time he needs. This can be very difficult at times, and a child’s communication challenges may very well become more difficult with fatigue, stress, excitement, and pain. But remember that the goal is to get a child communicating! However that looks, the communication itself is what matters most.
Interestingly, most people who struggle with stuttering do not stutter when they sing, which makes sense when you think about these techniques!
Finally, find comfort in knowing that many successful, famous, and articulate people stutter, though we wouldn’t necessarily know that because they’ve mastered strategies such as those I’ve mentioned. A few well-known examples include:
- Rowan Atkinson
- Steve Harvey
- Samuel L. Jackson
- James Earl Jones (Darth Vader)
- Boris Karloff
- Nicole Kidman
- B.B. King
- Marilyn Monroe
- Sam Neill
- Elvis Presley
- Ed Sheeran
- Carly Simon
- John Stossel
For more information, check out resources from The Stuttering Foundation. And, if I can be of assistance to you and/or your child, please reach out.