– Give your child time to communicate their message. It is important to give your child the time to speak. Often when a child feels rushed it can make their stammer worse and makes them feel more anxious. Creating a calm, relaxed environment with lots of time to speak will make your child feel less anxious about their stammer.
– Provide models of slow, calm speech when talking with your child. Consider your own rate of speech when talking around your child.
– Focus on what your child says instead of how they say it. This communicates to them that what they have to say is valued and important.
– Don’t try to guess what your child is going to say. Don’t finish their sentences for them or interrupt them when they are talking.
– Do more of what seems to help your child’s fluency. For example, looking at favourite books together or talking about a favourite activity.
It might be really helpful to talk through your concerns with a Speech and Language Therapist who will ask you questions about the stammer such as when it started, how it started, the frequency of the stammers, whether there is a family history of stammering, what makes the stammer better or worse etc.
If you’re concerned, please visit your GP who will refer to your local NHS Speech Therapy Service and complete a referral on our home page if you’d like to be seen privately within 3 weeks and have a call with one of our therapist’s immediately.