Stuttering Therapy
Is your child a stutterer or does he stammer occasionally ?
Some children during the course of their early speech and language development may go through this phase where in they appear to be dysfluent. It is important that you consult a professional if this ‘bumpy’ speech is a common occurance in your child’s communications. The speech therapist will be able to listen to your child and tell you if there is anything that you could do to manage this behaviour and if it needs intervention. At the same time, many of us pause before a word or repeat a certain phrase or words in our speech at times. Do you remember the last time you got angry or emotional? How was your speech then? Did you get stuck on a particular word or did you repeat words? We may call those as ‘normal dysfluencies’. So, how can we differentiate stuttering from normal dysfluencies? The following are the main characteristics of stuttering.
Stuttering can take many forms:
- Whole word repetitions, e.g. “We-we-we-we go home”.
- Part-word repetition, e.g. “G-G-G-Gordon has a bag”.
- Blocks, e.g. “……..look at that!”
- Prolongation, e.g. “Caaaaaaaan I go?”
Apart from these signs, the speakers may also have the following behaviors when they speak:
- facial grimacing
- rapid eye blinking
- head or jaw movements
- wide opening of mouth
- tongue protrusion
- irregular breathing
- extra body movements during speech
Some older children may even report of their speech worsening in certain contexts or with specific environmental variables. For example, they may tell you that they can speak fluently with their friends and classmates, but cannot speak fluently during the oral examinations or when answering questions in front of the whole class.
Reference:
Sen, P. & Vasudeva, R. (2002). No More Baby Talk: A Parent’s Guide to Speech and Language Development. Singapore: Longman.
Irrespective of the level at which your child is functioning currently, specially designed speech therapy can help your child develop speech better and faster. Contact ISSW for more details.
