Stuttering

     Between the ages of 3 and 4, about one in 10 children will begin stuttering.  It is more common in boys than in girls and occurs in all races and cultures.

     The majority of early childhood stuttering is normal and will resolve by itself, but parents need to watch for signs that the stuttering may be a more severe and persistent problem.

     Normal stuttering most often involves short words at the beginning of the sentence. More severe stuttering often involves the first letter of words and can happen any place in the sentence. A child saying, “Mom…mom…mom…I want to go” is less worrisome than a child saying, “M…m…m…m…mom, I want to g…g…g…go”.

     There are other factors that increase the risk that the stuttering may be more severe. If another family member continued to have a stutter through adolescence or into adulthood, the risk is greater. If the child begins to stutter after age 4 or stutters for longer than 12 months, the risk of severe stuttering increases. Severe stuttering involves more than 10% of the child’s speech with the stuttering lasting longer than 1 second. Children with normal stuttering don’t seem embarrassed or upset about their stuttering, but children with severe stuttering may raise the pitch of their voice and become frustrated while struggling to speak.

      There are many support resources for stuttering that can be found online and there are a variety of treatments used by speech therapists. With mild stuttering and no other risk factors, waiting and watching for a while may be a parent’s best choice of action. A report in Pediatrics in 2013 found that waiting a year before beginning therapy did not seem to have any effect on the child’s development or emotional state. However, if parents are very concerned or if any of the risk signs mentioned above are present, referring a child earlier should be considered.