Handy tips

Dysfluency, DO & DO NOT

HOW TO REDUCE YOUR CHILD'S STUTTERING

 

DO

  • Set good models for your child by slowing down your rate of speech
  • Maintain good eye contact with your child when he is dysfluent
  • Give your child enough time to formulate his thoughts
  • Express your appreciation for your child's positive behavior and achievements
  • Be reasonable in your demands from your child; respect his potential
  • Use rewards and encouragement
  • Give your child more attention and time

 

DON'T

  • Don't compare your child to his sisters, brothers or peers
  • Don't disrupt or fill in the sentences for him when he is experiencing dysfluency
  • Don't use negative reactions and punishment
  • Don't put him under any sort of time pressure, for ex. asking him questions when in a rush, such as when he is late for the school bus
  • Don't interrupt your child verbally while he is experiencing dysfluency
  • Don’t ask him a question before he answers an initial one
  • Don’t fill in words for him
  • Don’t guess what he is about to say
  • Don’t criticize his verbal and non-verbal behaviors, particularly in front of him or others

 

INCREASE

 

The amount of fluent speech your child experiences has to be increased, for example, by avoiding too much speaking on the days in which your child's dysfluency is heightened.

 

This is particularly important as dysfluency is usually of intermittent course and usually occurs in the form of unpredictable episodes.

 

SEEK

It is advisable not to wait until your child reach the following advanced stages as it will be difficult to remediate in most cases, though some improvement can be achieved.

Seek professional consultation whenever:

  • You feel your child is starting to become aware of his stuttering
  • The condition is getting worse
  • Your child's self esteem is negatively affected
  • Your child is starting to avoid communicating and socially interacting with others
  • You notice associated body reactions, word fillers (for ex. saying um, uh, I mean, etc….), word substitution or describing the dysfluent word, for ex. saying "th thing we open the door with" to avoid his dysfluency in the word "key"