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Pitbull
Verboten
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2006
- Messages
- 64,308
Speach therapy would be the safest bet. Some people never out grow it, so rather not take the chance.
+1. Had a mate that had it since small and started going for speech therapy sessions around age 14. He never grew out of it. Might do your son good somewhere in the future as well (e.g. being a well outspoken person has its benefits).
I might be giving away very personal information, but I have stuttered my entire life. Sometimes extremely severely, sometimes you won't even notice. I have been to speech therapists.
So, some tips. First, do not react to your child's stutter. Your child is probably already aware of his stutter and self conscious. Do not tell him to take a breath, do not tell him to slow down. Do not finish his sentences unless he gives you permission to. In most cases it is a bad idea.
Do not focus attention on his stutter, in other words.
Contact a speech therapist immediately and get him assessed. If he begins therapy soon, he might outgrow it and not stutter as an adult. I did not outgrow it.
Different people deal with stutters in different ways. Myself, it has never really stopped me from interacting. I talk to random strangers, I give presentations, and I make phone calls, even though I really don't like the phone. I have had people laugh at me, had people tease me, had people ask me if I forgot my name. Usually it is just ignorance - people unaware of what a stutter is. I always participated in class, and put my hand up in class to answer questions if I knew the answer.
I don't why I did, or why my stutter does not really affect me socially. I think my stutter is perhaps not as bad as some - sometimes I am pretty fluent, even on the phone. Some people suffer from terrible social anxiety relating to their stutter, and this can really affect them. Be careful to make sure that your son does not develop such anxiety.
So, some tips. First, do not react to your child's stutter. Your child is probably already aware of his stutter and self conscious. Do not tell him to take a breath, do not tell him to slow down. Do not finish his sentences unless he gives you permission to. In most cases it is a bad idea.
Do not focus attention on his stutter, in other words.
Contact a speech therapist immediately and get him assessed. If he begins therapy soon, he might outgrow it and not stutter as an adult. I did not outgrow it.
Different people deal with stutters in different ways. Myself, it has never really stopped me from interacting. I talk to random strangers, I give presentations, and I make phone calls, even though I really don't like the phone. I have had people laugh at me, had people tease me, had people ask me if I forgot my name. Usually it is just ignorance - people unaware of what a stutter is. I always participated in class, and put my hand up in class to answer questions if I knew the answer.
I don't why I did, or why my stutter does not really affect me socially. I think my stutter is perhaps not as bad as some - sometimes I am pretty fluent, even on the phone. Some people suffer from terrible social anxiety relating to their stutter, and this can really affect them. Be careful to make sure that your son does not develop such anxiety.
Speech therapy.
I tried that. DAF refers to a device called the SpeakEasy, which is a little thing that goes in your ear, and plays back your own speech to you. This tricks your brain into thinking that you are speaking in a group, so it can eliminate stuttering.
For me, there was not a noticeable difference in fluency, because my fluency is highly variable. When I have good days, you won't know that I stutter. When I have bad days, every word is a battle.
Another popular option for which your son is too young is a weekend course on intercostal breathing techniques. I forget the name of the course. But they also focus quite a lot on social anxiety, which is not applicable to me.
Really? Doesn't come across that way at all
cerebus
Honorary Master
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2007
- Messages
- 49,177
In our office there are a couple of guys with stutters - one very severe. He also happens to be one of the top software architects, and a generally brilliant guy. It hasn't stopped him at all. If you can't get your child to overcome the physical stutter itself, rather focus on overcoming the social effects that it tends to cause. Anyway most devs and engineers I know are barely verbal.
HavocXphere
Honorary Master
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2007
- Messages
- 33,155
Yeah best to let the pros handle it...speech therapy.
You asking for a "cure" strikes me as a little alarming though...this is something that is (best case) gradually reduced over a significant amount of time until its no longer noticeable, not "cured".
You asking for a "cure" strikes me as a little alarming though...this is something that is (best case) gradually reduced over a significant amount of time until its no longer noticeable, not "cured".
Yeah...computers have help on this front I think. If you can program like a boss then you've at least got a stable & comfortable spot in society. Wouldn't want to be in the 17th century with a stutter...
Mind sharing what constitutes a "good" day? Or rather what is it linked to? Stress levels? Sleep? Emotional state?
Hard to say whether he will grow out of it. I've had it for about 20 years now. It's fine one day, and horrible the next.
Stress certainly doesn't help.
Advice as to how to handle it? It depends on what causes it.
GreGorGy
BULLSFAN
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2005
- Messages
- 15,289
Noob-Noob
Executive Member
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2010
- Messages
- 7,030
I stuttered until about i was 8, my grandmother helped me, she made me repeat certain sentences the whole time, i also went to a speech therapist but it was mostly my gran which helped me overcome it. Today i don't stutter at all, but it does differ from person to person.
Difficult to predict, but in general I think my background stress levels are usually more important than specific stress levels. If I am relaxed, I can cope with stressful situations better. If things are piling up around me and I'm feeling stressed, even normal situations result in me stuttering badly.
But it all depends and it seems random sometimes.