Parenting Toolbox Provides Answers for Your Family Today

Forget how to access your membership?

Celebrating 9 years of service to parents online!
newsletters>>
1.0 parentingWORKS
3.0 clinicalTOOLS
4.0 reports...

RECOMMENDED PARENTING TOOL:

Get Family Trivia and More in our Parenting FUN Toolbox

CLICK HERE!


"ParentWORKS Newsletter"


Did You Know: 

Growth spurts can start as early as 10 days after your baby’s birth.  Growth spurts usually are preceded by a sleepy, lethargic day and a big jump in appetite.  Growth spurts may happen again at 3, 6, and 12 weeks and again at 4 and 6 months.  If you begin to notice that your child is not as satisfied with the amount that you have been feeding her previously, then she may be beginning a growth spurt period.  If you are breastfeeding, you may want to add a feeding or two to satiate your baby’s appetite and to help increase milk production.

Power Tools : Mental Health

How to Help Children Who Stutter

By Ron Huxley, LMFT

The Dutch call it stotteren. The Russians call it zaikatsia. The Egyptians call it nit-nit. The British call it stammering. But for my brother, he called it embarrassing. That's because other children used to tease him about the way he talked. He, like four percent of all children, had a problem, that Americans call stuttering.

Stuttering occurs when the normal flow of speech is disrupted. Children who stutter may repeat sounds, make unintentional stops mid-word, or may be
unable to produce sounds. The social consequences of stuttering include anxiety, withdrawal, and low self-esteem, to name a few. For children like
my brother, the more anxious he became the worse his stuttering got. A vicious cycle for any child who develops stuttering.

"Stuttering can cause personality changes in children," states Kathryn Wage, a speech pathologist and director of the Center for Communication Skills.
"Children can go from being outgoing individuals to cautious and socially withdrawn."

People falsely believe that stuttering is a sign of mental retardation or manipulation (i.e., the child could control it if he or she really wanted to). That's because children, who stutter in one setting, may not stutter in
other settings, such as the home, where the child feels more relaxed. In fact, stuttering may be absent when the child is singing, reading aloud, talking in
unison, or talking to pets or inanimate objects. The reason for this, according to Wage, is that these interactions employ a different language rhythm. This rhythm of language is one way that speech pathologists help children who stutter. Children are taught to slow down, stretch out or exaggerate their speech to gain greater control over their stuttering. It's what Kathryn Wage calls "smoothing out stuttering."

There are many different techniques for dealing with stuttering. These techniques vary according to the speech pathologists theoretical orientation.
Psychological rationales advocate stress reduction. Behavioral models reinforce non-stuttering behaviors and give disincentives for stuttering. Learning theories work with the rhythms of language. And there are some new, untested techniques that appear to help some children, such as the use of hearing aids. These hearing aids produce a background of "white noise" or
static. Wage feels that this technique may be affecting the child's rhythm of language helping them to "smooth out stuttering."

Stuttering usually occurs between two to four years of age, although it sometimes begins around five to seven. Although it rarely begins in adolescence, children can continue to stutter through adulthood. The causes
for it are still unknown. It is believed that stuttering is a mix of genetic, chemical, and behavioral factors. A thorough family history usually uncovers a family member that also had a problem with stuttering. This creates a predisposition, in the child, for stuttering that may not come up until a stressful of difficult life event. The good news about stuttering is that it is often developmental based. In other words, children, with training, can grow out of it. This is what happened to my brother. After some speech classes in Kindergarten, his stuttering dramatically decreased, as did the teasing.

Dorvan Breitenfeldt, Ph.D., from Eastern Washington University and a member of the National Stuttering Project, lists several things parents can do if
their child stutters:

· Don't let the child know you are upset about his speech.
· Look at your child when he speaks and show by your expression that you are interested in what he is saying, not how he is saying it.
· Refrain from teaching tricks (deep breaths, finger snapping, arm waving).
· Don't force the child to speak or recite to strangers.
· Don't let your child avoid normal responsibilities (i.e., chores).
· Don't supply words. Let your child get his words out himself.
· Don't interrupt. Be patient.
· Look for emotional tension at home or school when stuttering is very bad.
· Model a relaxed manner of speech when talking to the child. Maintain a calm, reassuring, unhurried manner with slow speech.
· Don't ask the child to substitute an easy word for a hard one, as this will only increase the fear of certain words and phrases.

Today, my brother still has some difficulties when speaking. When he talks too fast or is nervous, he will stutter. When asked what he does about this, he simply replied: "I just slow down."

Kathryn Wage can be reached at comunk8@ccs.mciworld.com

Earn 75% When You Become a Parenting Toolbox Affiliate!

We are one of ClickBanks Top Affiliate Products for Parents

Copyright 2008 Ron Huxley | Privacy Rights | Contact Us