Undoubtedly, a stuttering child causes anxiety and fear in parents. What about him? Does he get sick, will it pass? Experiencing a child, parents unknowingly can make mistakes that, instead of helping the baby, increase their stuttering, after which it passes from a completely natural phase of speech formation into an acquired skill and is fixed.

Stuttering is a violation of the tempo-rhythmic organization of speech, also called logo neurosis. In general, stuttering can occur at three stages of a child’s development: the earliest – between 2–3 years old, then – at the age of 6 years old, when the child prepares to go to school, as well as during puberty.

Many children aged 2 to 5 years go through a period of stuttering, repeating certain sounds, syllables, words or phrases, prolonging (lengthening) them or making stops, without making the necessary sound or syllable, or show indecision in speech.

However, before you start to lament that your child is stuttering, you need to understand that in the vast majority of cases, stuttering is a transient process. Often, with the development and formation of the speech apparatus, as well as an increase in the vocabulary of a child, stuttering takes place independently. It is generally accepted that by the age of 5–6 years, 80% of children stutter without external help. Sometimes it can last longer. Of course, this does not mean that it needs to be ignored, because the sooner you start helping your baby, the easier it will be to cope with this problem.

There is no cure for stuttering, but there are effective methods for correcting it, which are available at home – in a loving family.

What are the causes of stuttering?

The reasons for stuttering are not straightforward, it is very difficult to point to any one that directly determines stuttering. Most often, it is the result of a combination of certain factors. Experts believe that among the various factors contributing to stuttering are the following:

• Genetics – 60% of people who stutter have a stuttering family member of the 1st – 2nd degree of kinship; also stuttering can lead to imitation of the speech of a loved one;
• complications after infectious diseases;
• delays in the development of speech – as a result, the child wants to say more than is still capable, which leads to hesitations, problems with pronunciation and stuttering;
• features in the central nervous system – difficulties in the interaction of various areas of the brain. Certain problems, failures in the transmission of impulses to the muscles and parts of the body involved in the reproduction of speech;
• high/increased activity level;
• fast pace of speech;
• rapid development of speech in children who started to speak late (by the age of three, for example);
• stressful and traumatic situations – psychological trauma, or psychotrauma, in fact, any situation in which the child loses the feeling of stability and safety can lead to stuttering;
• artificial (imposed) remaking of the child from left-handed to right-handed person;
• big requirements in relation to the child (telling poems, repeating the text just read, etc.) and paying attention to the flaws in pronunciation. The child, trying to please his parents more and more, under the influence of the emerging internal tension, fixes his stuttering.

The first signs of stuttering, as a rule, appear at the age of 18-24 months: there is a lexical surge and the children try to put together their first sentences, selecting and folding words. Stuttering can upset and upset parents, but for children to go through it at this stage will be quite natural. It is important to be as patient with the child as possible.

A child can stutter for several weeks or several months, stuttering can be sporadic (episodic and irregular). However, if your child stutters often, stuttering continues to worsen and is accompanied by mimicry or bodily movements, it is worth showing a speech therapist or search via speech and language therapy jobs LA. Make it better at the age of about 3 years (not earlier).