What to do when your child stammers

Read this true story of how a mother coped with her son's speech impediment and she offers you 5 tips on how to help your child when he or she stammers.

1.Use positive reinforcement of correct speech.

Positive reinforcement is always better than negative scoldings such as "Why are you talking like that?" or "Cant' you speak properly?". Such negative statements damage your child's self esteem and may make him even more fearful of his stammer. When your child says something like, "B..b...but I..I..I want t..t..t..to watch t..t..t..tv", you can gently say, "You want to watch tv, dear? Can you follow how I say it?". Then slowly say each word clearly and encourage your child to follow suit. Give your child generous praises when he or she speaks correctly. It takes a lot of patience to use the positive reinforcement method but it will be worth the effort at the end of the day.

2. Reduce watching television

Watching television can be very disruptive to normal interaction. Most families have their television sets switched on during dinner time and talk to each other with the TV noise in the background. Your child is distracted and cannot concentrate on what you are saying to him or her. Why not consider switching the television off and chat with your child about the day's events? Without the added stimulation and noise, it is much easier for your child to hear you speak correctly and pick up good proper speech.

3. Visual aid

This is a tool which I found very useful for Daniel. We did two small postcards. Each had a drawing of a straight line and a bumpy line. Daniel took the initiative and stuck little car stickers on top of these lines. Whenever, he stammered, we would show him the card and pointed out gently that he was speaking like a bumpy road. Then, when he spoke without any stammer, we would praise him and congratulate him for speaking like he is driving on a straight road.

Daniel was not upset when we used this method. As a matter of fact, he loved it and took pride each time he was shown the straight road card. He even made a few more similar cards himself. At times, when I was tired and hesitated a little when I spoke, he would gleefully say, "Mummy, you speak bumpy road!" and showed me the card.

You can also use visual aids by writing words which your child finds difficulty in pronouncing or short sentences on flash cards and teach your child the right way to say them.

4. Sing!

Put on his favourite CD and start singing. It's amazing that when a child sings, you don't hear him or her stuttering. Make this a fun family time and bond with your child by singing along to happy songs. Your child will feel good and you will feel calmer as well. Don't restrict yourself to just English CDs. Chinese songs are good too. You can pop into your local bookshop like Popular or MPH and they would have a variety of children songs CDs.

5. Relax

I was very stressed when I was worried about Daniel's speech. He picked up on it and because apprehensive each time he spoke as well which made his stammer worse. I am not making light of the seriousness of speech issues in children. Rather, I am saying it does not help you nor your child if you got as worked up about it as I am. Relax, continue to be positive and praise your child when he or she speaks correctly.

At the end of the day, as I am not a doctor but merely a concerned parent, I do not want to be presumptuous and advise you that if you follow these tips, your child's stutter will disappear. Your child may have a different speech issue than Daniel. My recommendation, from my positive personal experience at CDU, is to make an appointment to see them and take it from there. For more information on CDU, please refer to their website here.

Good luck!

Written by

Jenny Toh

Speechstammerstutterchild development