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Ways to Help Children Improve their Fluency:
Suggestions for Parents
by
Valerie Johnston, MS, CCC-SLP
There are many things
parents can do to help their children who stutter speak more easily and
fluently. The most important of these is to learn more about stuttering. A good
place to start this learning process is with some of the booklets and videos by
the Stuttering Foundation of America. To get information on my recommendations
for different age levels, other resources and how to order, click here.
As you learn more about
stuttering and fluency you will find out that, in general, there are things
that make stuttering worse (negative influences) and things that make it better
(positive influences). Lists of both the positive and negative influences on
stuttering follow. The suggestions on these lists come from a variety of
sources. Some things may work for your child and others may not. Just observe
your child’s speech and use the ones that work.
Things
to Do (Positive Influences)
1.
Convey to your child
that you accept him for who he is, whether he stutters or not.
2.
Respond what
your child is saying, rather than how he is saying it.
3.
Make stuttering a “no
big deal” topic for discussion. For suggestions of ways to do this click here.
4.
Talk about talking when
you can’t listen. Let your child know that you’re interested in what he has to
say. Tell him you’ll listen as soon as you’re through and then make sure you
really do get back to him in a short period of time and listen to what he has
to say without doing anything else.
5.
As much as possible,
establish a calm, relaxed atmosphere. Allow plenty of time to do things so that
you don’t have to rush from one thing to another.
6.
Speak with your child
in a relaxed, unhurried way, pausing frequently.
7.
Speak in short simple sentences
and use vocabulary that is appropriate for your child's age.
8.
Make comments about
what your child has said or done, rather than asking questions.
9.
When you must ask
questions, ask yes/no questions, two-choice questions, or limited scope questions,
such as “What was the best thing that happened at school today?” instead of
“What did you do at school today?”
10. Allow your child to finish his thoughts before you
respond. It’s often easy to anticipate what he’s going to say and respond
before he finishes. Let him finish, pause for a short time and then respond.
11. Model and encourage good turn taking while talking
and during other activities. Count silently to 5 before responding to slow down
the rate of turn taking.
12. Set aside a few minutes at a regular time each day
when you can give your child your undivided attention. Let your child direct
you in the activities and choose whether he talks or not. When you talk, use
slow, easy speech with plenty of pauses. Allow and accept periods of silence.
13. Praise, compliment and thank your child frequently.
14. Let your child own the problem of stuttering. Allow
him to handle his own speaking situations and show confidence in his ability to
speak by not letting him avoid speaking situations.
15. Be an active part of your child’s therapy. Learn the
tools, or techniques, your child uses to control his stuttering.
Things to Avoid (Negative Influences)
1.
Sending negative signals about your child’s speech or reacting
differently when he stutters.
2.
Punishing or reprimanding your child for stuttering,
3.
Making suggestions about what he should do in order to stop stuttering.
4.
Scheduling too much of your child’s day in planned activities.
5.
Having a rushed or hectic household or a household in which everyone
speaks rapidly.
6.
Interrupting your child and letting him interrupt others.
7.
Speaking at the same time as your child.
8. Completing words or thoughts for your child.
9.
Speaking rapidly to your child, or when around him.
10. Using long, complex sentences and vocabulary that
are above your child’s age level when talking with him.
11. Having your child do “command performances”. For
example, “Tell grandma what we did on our vacation”.
12. Asking frequent questions.
13. Asking multiple questions (one right after
another) without allowing time for your child to respond.
14. Using a rapid rate of turn taking.
15. Having your child compete with others for turns
in conversations or other activities.
You may feel overwhelmed
after reading these lists, but you’re probably already doing a lot of the
things you should be doing. If you focus on doing more of the positive things,
you really won’t have to worry about many of the negative things since the two
lists are basically mutually exclusive.
One last suggestion, if your
child has stuttered for three months or longer, contact a speech-language
pathologist (SLP) who has experience working with children who stutter to
discuss your concerns about your child’s speech. You can get a list of the SLPs
in your area who have this experience from the Stuttering Foundation of America.
If you have questions or need more information you can contact us at:
Overton
Speech & Language Center, Inc.
4763 Barwick Drive, Suite 103
Fort Worth, TX 76132
(817) 294-8408
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