Parent Corner: Tips to promote fluent speech for your child

Stuttering is one of the disorders that people are most familiar with when it comes to speech-language pathology. Stuttering may develop in early childhood and persist throughout the life span. Some types of stuttering, e.g., developmental, will likely fade over time while other types of stuttering are lifelong. Stuttering may be characterized by, but not limited to, the following: frequent pauses (e.g., John...can I go...to the store...with you?), word repetition (e.g., John...John...John...can I go...go...go...go...go to the store...with you?), phrase repetition (e.g., John...can I go...can I go...can I go to the store...with you?), or prolongation of sounds (e.g., John can I go to the ssssssssstore...with you?).   

It can be difficult for those who stutter to get their point across quickly and clearly.  The listener(s) may not know how to react to the disfluent speech.  Although there is no one clear explanation of why stuttering occurs, there are several factors that have been found to be useful to enhance the speaker’s fluency.  Luckily, there are some things that listener(s)/speaking partner(s) can do to promote fluent speech.    

Tips  to promote fluent speech: 

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• Turn off the television when you are having a conversation 
• Don't look at your phone or computer when you are listening to the person that is stuttering 
• Go to a quiet place that is free from other people  
• Maintain eye contact while speaking to the person that is stuttering—this lets the speaker know that their communication is valuable  
• Slow down your rate of speech  
• Speaking with a slower rate of speech can send the message that you are not in a rush; real, or perceived, time constraints may result in more disfluent speech  
• Don’t rush your child to answer/speak 
• Allow your child to finish what he or she is saying—don’t interrupt him or her 
• Don’t bring attention to the stuttering in younger children 
• Modeling may be a more effective means to promote increased fluency  
• In older children/teenager, encourage the use of the fluency strategies they have learned in speech therapy 
• Do not ask children to repeat themselves or to start over again 
• If your child becomes frustrated when speaking due to stuttering, take a break from the conversation and come back to it at a later time  

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If you or someone you know needs the services of a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist, please be sure to discuss your concerns with a physician, a speech-language pathologist, or another qualified provider. You can also find a provider through the ASHA ProFind service or visit us at www.bilingualspeech.org for more information. Additional information on this topic can be found at stutteringhelp.org or at asha.org.  NOTE: This article is intended only as a general source of information, i.e, it is not intended to replace information given to you by a qualified health professional that is familiar with your particular circumstances. Lastly, if you have an urgent medical need, please seek immediate medical attention.