Stuttering advice from child speech therapists
When your child is learning to talk they may begin to stutter and around 8.5 percent of all three-year-old children in Australia experience stuttering at some point. It can often be difficult to tell whether your child’s stutter is developmental or something more serious. Our Brisbane north child speech therapists provide a summary of different types of stutters to ease your mind.
If your child is doing any of the following consistently they may be at risk of stuttering:
- repeat parts of words such as t-t-t-table or tay-tay-tay-table
- prolongs or holds a sound too long like sssssun
- opens their mouth to speak and nothing comes out
- struggles to produce speech by making a face or getting very tense when trying to speak.
- beginning to stutter after the age of three-and-a-half.
It can be worrying if your child has started to stutter, however, there are lots of things you can do at home to help, including:
- listen to what your child is saying not how they’ve said it
- give your child time to talk. If you ask a question wait for an extra couple of seconds to give them time to reply.
- give your child your full attention when they’re talking to you
- slow down your speech when talking with your child
A child speech therapist can provide assessment, intervention and advice about stuttering. If you’re concerned, it is important to seek advice and help early as the most successful stuttering therapy happens before your child is six years old.
Please contact us to book your child in for an assessment, or use our online booking system.