Should I Be Concerned About My Child’s Stuttering?

You’ve graduated from pointing, miming, and simply guessing what your child needs to growing verbal communication. And you’re thrilled. However, your excitement is turning into worry as your child speaks with a stutter, and you’re wondering whether you should be concerned. 

Well, there’s good news, bad news, and everything in between when it comes to childhood stuttering. The team here at Celebrations Speech Group will discuss stuttering in children in this month’s blog post to help you determine when you should seek help.

Stuttering — a normal part of language and speech development

Let’s first focus on the good news when it comes to stuttering — it can be a perfectly normal part of language and speech development. Also called a disfluency, stuttering can present itself as repeating certain syllables, using fillers like “um,” and pauses when they speak.

Disfluencies like these often affect kids between the ages of 1.5 and 5 years, and they can come and go as the child learns to navigate speaking and language. 

To give you an idea about how common this is, up to 1 in 10 kids stutter, with boys developing disfluencies far more often than girls — 2-3 times more often. No matter the gender, 75% of kids will outgrow the dysfluency.

When to be concerned about stuttering

While three-quarters of kids who stutter go on to speak smoothly, what happens with the other 25%?

Catching a potentially chronic problem with stuttering early can be very beneficial, so let’s review some warning flags that your child’s stuttering may be more than temporary.

Stuttering worsens

If your child’s stuttering doesn’t improve but gets worse, it’s time to come in to see us for an evaluation, no matter your child’s age.

Stuttering doesn’t go away

If your child is five or six and their stuttering hasn’t improved, but it also hasn’t gotten worse, it’s still important to seek help as most children grow out of stuttering by this age.

Facial or body movements

If facial or body movements accompany your child’s stuttering, this could signal a larger issue that can benefit from speech therapy.

Avoidance

If your child is choosing not to communicate because of the frustration over stuttering or they choose different words mid-sentence, this may be more than a mild disfluency and one that can benefit from intervention.

Your child’s communication ability is very important, so if you’re at all on the fence, erring on the side of caution is best. Our team can easily identify whether there’s cause for concern or not, which allows you peace of mind or early treatment — and both are great outcomes.

To have your child’s stuttering expertly evaluated, please contact one of our offices in Brentwood, Stockton, or Elk Grove, California, to schedule an appointment.