What is stammering?

About 8 per cent of children will experience something like stammering at some point.  It most often happens between the ages of two and seven years old. 

About 2 per cent of adults stammer.  Many people find that as they get older they stammer less.

 In the UK we say mostly ‘stammering’ or therapists say ‘dysfluency’, other countries call it ‘stuttering’.  They all mean the same thing and there is no difference between them.

Stammering is when someone repeats sounds (e.g. “m, m, m, m mummy”) syllables (e.g. “I see a bu, bu, bu, butterfly”) whole words and even short phrases, stretching out of long sounds and vowels (e.g. “sssssssssssnake”) or not being able to get started on a word or sentence (getting stuck) while talking.

It is normal for stammering to come and go and get better and then worse again.  It can tend to increase when the person is tired, unwell or feeling a strong emotion like feeling excited or angry.

What you can do to help

Show your child you are interested in what they are saying, not how they are saying it.  Come down to their level, and give them eye-contact.  If you can’t do this, tell them that you are listening, or if you really can’t, explain that you can talk about that thing later. Let your child finish talking before you say anything.

Give your child plenty of time to speak.  Try not to show any signs e.g. looking away that you want them to hurry.

Play with your child, but don’t take charge.  Take your lead from your child and don’t ask too many questions – try and comment on what you or they are doing.

Slow your own speech down as this will alter your child’s speed of talking. Asking your child to slow down may work for a few moments, but they won’t be able to keep it up.

Pause briefly before you respond to your child.  This provides a good example of how to give yourself time to work out what to say next.

Try not to use sentences and words that are too complicated for your child’s age.  If they attempt to use complicated sentences or words, they are more likely to get stuck.

Avoid situations where the child has to ‘perform’ in speaking tasks e.g. ‘Show grandma how you can say ….’

Don’t ask your child to repeat a word that they stammered on.  It will probably be more fluent if they do repeat it, but not the next time they say it in a sentence.

Make sure that everyone in your home takes turns to talk, and does not interrupt others.  This will reduce the amount that the child who is stammering is interrupted, and interrupts others.

Be encouraging to your child.  Praise things they do well, to help their confidence.  If they look upset or embarrassed when they get stuck when talking, acknowledge their difficulty, in a supportive way e.g. ‘I can tell you’re finding some of those words hard to say – don’t worry, we can all have trouble learning to talk’

Seek advice from your local speech and language therapy service as soon as possible. Early intervention has been shown to be the most effective. They can provide you with a flexible and effective programme of therapy to follow.

There are a lot of suggestions here, and it would be impossible to try to do them all at once.  Instead, choose one idea that you think would suit you and your child, and try that for a few weeks.  Once you're doing that without having to think about it too much, add one other idea, should you need to.

Helpful links

The British Stammering Association has lots of great advice and resources for children, young people and parents/carers including free online workshops.

Information leaflets for pre-school and school age children.

Action for Stammering Children (ASC) is a UK charity which aims for a society where children and young people who stammer have the same opportunities and quality of life as their peers. – information and support for teenagers.

British Stammering Association (Schools) has information and training for school staff 

BeneTalk is an app which is an introduction to stammering, with strategies for parents of children age around 2-6 years.