You may notice your child suddenly starts to repeat sounds or words. Should you be concerned?

Interesting Facts about Stuttering:

• Between the ages of two and six, your child can exhibit “normal stuttering”, usually because the child is processing and mentally working ahead of the ability to express him or herself verbally
• These episodes of dysfluency usually only last a few seconds and occur less frequently as the child gets older – and they happen more when the child is excited, tired, or irritable
• With “normal stuttering” parents can respond by helping the child relax or help the child to say what he or she is attempting to say
• If a close family member stutters, the child may be more at-risk to develop stuttering
• A child who develops a stutter prior to age 3 has a stronger chance of outgrowing it

When should you contact Wildflowers? 

• If your child continues to stutter while calm and relaxed
• If your child shows secondary behaviours, like tension, frustration, withdrawal, or physical movements during the stutters
• If your child makes frequent speech errors such as substituting one sound for another or leaving sounds out of words, or has trouble following directions, he or she is less likely to outgrow stuttering without help
• If the episodes of stuttering have continued for more than 6 months, or have worsened

Get your questions answered and the help your child needs with stuttering.  Book an appointment with Christine Lewis, Speech-Language Pathologist at Wildflowers Children’s Therapy in Regina, SK.