Stammering is a complex difficulty for which there is thought to be no single cause. Instead, we talk about the factors that can contribute to it. Research has helped to identify four areas that are relevant when considering the contributory factors to stammering. Therefore stammering results from a mix of factors and the mix is different for each person.

These areas include:

    • Physical factors: for example, genetics or difficulties with motor co-ordination
    • Speech and language factors: for example, delayed or advanced language skills or a mismatch in skills
    • Environmental factors: for example, events in the child’s life that s/he finds difficult to manage
    • Emotional factors: for example, the way the child responds to events in his/her environment.

Incidence

It is thought that at any time, 5% of children experience some disruption to their fluency as they develop speech and language skills. Of this 5%, 2% are thought to grow out of it while a further 2% resolve stammering once they and their parents receive appropriate help. The remaining 1% continue to stammer as adults and speech therapy helps them to manage it so that they can have a sense of control of their speech.

Approaches

As with all speech and language difficulties, early intervention is best and there is no age that is too young for receiving help. The child attends for an assessment and there is a separate meeting with parents to help them understand more about their child’s stammer, answer questions that parents might have and develop an appropriate therapy plan. Therapy for children involves a family approach as parents have such an important role in helping their child’s development.

Therapy for adults who stammer makes use of current research to help the adult learn more about their stammer and ways of managing it. Therapy has a dual focus: learning about what happens physically during stammering and learning about the thoughts that accompany speaking situations that can equally impact on the adult’s sense of control while communicating. Many adults who stammer find therapy helpful, irrespective of the age at which they start. Research has helped us to develop therapy for adults so that it is likely to be a different experience now than that of years ago.

Resources

How To Help Your Child

Acknowledge the stammer

Help to keep the topic of speech and stammering open by acknowledging with your child that talking is sometimes hard. For example, you could say ‘Some words are tricky to get out sometimes, aren’t they?’ or ‘is talking harder today?’. If another family member stammers, you could say ‘Dad (for example) finds words hard to say sometimes too’.

Slow the pace

While it may not always be possible to encourage a slower pace, it will help your child if there are some times in the day when the pace slows down.  At this time, it will help if you slow your own rate of speech rather than asking your child to slow their rate. You could also encourage a slower pace by saying something like ‘we are in no hurry, I’m listening’.

Spend some individual time together

Allow your child to take the lead: this helps to build their confidence in their ability to lead and lets them talk as much or as little as they like. You do not need to encourage them to talk during this time. If they want some quiet play, that’s fine too.

Help develop communication skills: eye contact, listening and taking turns

Communication involves eye contact, listening and taking turns in conversation. You can help to develop your child’s communication skills by keeping a regular level of eye contact with them, including times when they are stammering.

When your child is speaking, try to listen to what they are saying rather than how they are saying it. This will enable you to respond to them in a natural way and help build their confidence with communicating.

Reduce the number of questions

Questions are not the only way of engaging a child. Simply by commenting on what a child is doing is often enough to involve them, for example ‘oh, I see you have the police car’. Additionally, when children play with toys, their concentration may be taken up with doing rather than talking, so it is not always necessary to fill the silences.

 

Use praise to build confidence

Praise helps children to become confident and independent. Children who are feeling positive are in much better form to perform the numerous tasks in their busy lives.

Keep to routine and structure

Children work best when there is structure in their lives, when they know the rules and know when they’ve reached their limit. A good question to ask yourself when your child who stammers is misbehaving is: How would I treat my other children if they did this?’ It is a good idea to treat your child who stammers in the same way. It would be unhelpful if they thought that they received special privileges because of their stammer.

When children are tired, they don’t tend to function as well as when they have had a good night sleep. This is especially true for the child who stammers, so structured bedtimes are helpful.