Developmental Stuttering

Many of my clients express concern when their children demonstrate disfluencies during their speech development. More often than not, the disfluency is due to a phenomenon known as "Limited Capacity". When a child has more to say than he or she is developmentally capable of, frequently a stutter will occur. "Limited Capacity" disfluiencies occur when a child is developing language, usually between the ages of 2 - 5.

When working with parents who are concerned about their child's fluency, I recommend the following strategies:

• Provide an environment without communicative stresses that allows many opportunities for the child to speak.
• Parents should not react negatively during stuttering events.
• Parents should praise and respond positively to fluent moments.
• Keep communicative demands low, and do not pressure the child to verbally perform.
• Implement relaxation exercises, including controlled breathing exercises.
• Do not complete your child's sentences, rather listen patiently to him/her as s/he speaks.

If your child's disfluency continues through an extended period of time, consult with a certified Speech Language Pathologist. A qualified SLP has the tools and the experience to assess the situation and teach strategies that will support fluent speech.