Re: OT: New stuttering in NT child

[Guest guest]

Hi Jane,

I have a friend whose NT daughter started stuttering at that age. I

think it lasted a month or so. It turned out that everything was ok.

HTH,

> Hi all,

>

> This question is NOT for my Asperger's child, but rather for my

> youngest son who is NT. He is 2 and a half years old. I already

> know that he seems sensitive to wheat, as he gets a rash on his

chest

> when he eats too much of it. This is a non-issue, because we

limit

> gluten rather severely even with enzymes because of my older son

> (which the 2-year-old takes on a fairly consistent basis---he just

> chews the capsule right up with or without water---what a

trooper).

> He is quite verbal, but for some reason he just suddenly has

started

> to stutter. This has been going on now for about a week. Can

anyone

> give me some guidance on whether this is something to be concerned

> about. It is really kinda funny to hear, but I am sure that if

this

> is not a passing phase, that I will not be laughing soon. I don't

> want to over-react to a normal phase in which he may just be

> acquiring language skills that are overwhelming his speech for a

> brief period of time. But, on the other hand, my oldest's speech

> started stalling at about this age, if not earlier, and my

daughter,

> who overall is NT, also had a speech regression about this age---

but,

> again, for her, no stuttering. Other than this stuttering, my 2-

year-

> old shows no other concerning behavior---good social skills,

> conversation, behavior, eye contact, fully potty trained, etc.

>

> If there is anyone out there that has experience with speech and

> language development and stuttering and when and how it starts,

and

> whether this is a predictor of further problems or just a passing

> phase, please let me know.

>

> Thanks in advance, Jane

[Guest guest]

Hi Jane-- it can be a passing phase. It could also be a sign of a

problem. I would tend to lean more towards a passing phase since

many children do go through this and then move out of it. (I am an

SLP by the way).

Some things you can do now to " help " would be to:

Have everyone in the family slow down their rate of speech

slightly. Do you remember Mr. on television? The way he

spoke is kind of what I mean. Very slow, with the vowels slightly

drawn out. Very calm voice. You don't have to go overboard with it

and make it sound totally bizarre. I'm just saying, slow it down.

Also, when speaking, try to eliminate hand gestures for the time

being. If you must use a hand gesture, make sure they are few and

far between and not wildly exagerrated. It will also help if you can

give your full attention when the child is talking to you. If you

can't stop what you are doing then just verbally let them know that

you are listening to them, and that they can take as much time as

they want to talk to you.

While I would not try to " correct " the child's stuttering, I would

suggest that every so often, you have them practice your slow & easy

type of talking. It should be in a situation where you are already

both really calm and relaxed (is there such a thing when you have

several kids??) and maybe be a situation where you are both looking

at a book, and you can say a phrase from the book really slow and

easy and then say-- hey, why don't you try saying it that way, really

slow like this, and then model the phrase for them. Then just give

positive reinforcement-- oh, that sounded really nice didn't it? You

can also model relaxing techniques periodically during the day, such

as saying " hey, why don't we both take a really deep breath now and

let it out like this " .

I really do think that he will probably pass through the phase

without trouble. But these are some techniques that I learned at

some stuttering workshops in the past as things that " can't hurt " to

try at home. I've had several parents, including myself, use these

when their 2-3 year old started doing some stuttering and it did seem

to help. It could be that they would have passed through the phase

anyway, but at the same time, it does feel good to at least be doing

something, kwim?

If the stuttering progresses to where you are seeing facial grimacing

or struggling to get the words out (instead of the bumpy

repetitions), then you might want to arrange to have an SLP

evaluation. Birth to three centers can do this at no charge to you.

At age three, a public school SLP can do a screening and/or

evaluation at no charge to you also.

W

> > He is quite verbal, but for some reason he just suddenly has

started

> to stutter. This has been going on now for about a week. Can

anyone

> give me some guidance on whether this is something to be concerned

> about.

[Guest guest]

can be a lead mercury issue, seems to relate to some neural phase

delay.

..85 mcg/lb source naturals selenomethionine may help but you will

have to loook at the overall mineral transport picture i think.

LEAD.