As a child enters kindergarten, speaking demands begin to increase, both in the classroom and within their community. Your child may suddenly be required to talk or read in front of their whole class. They may need to order food from their cafeteria or restaurant when you aren’t present. They may be expected to engage with peers on sports teams, at the playground, or at birthday parties. These experiences can lead to your child becoming more aware of the impact stuttering is having on them, either on their own or due to comments made by others.

As your child gets older, children who may never have seemed bothered by stuttering in the past may suddenly withdraw from situations that require speaking or may appear to be socializing less with their peers. Others may seem to thrive in social settings, but come home from school tired or in a bad mood from the effort it takes to try to hide their stuttering. Your child or teen may do a good job of concealing the impact of stuttering, but if we provide them with a safe space to open up, we may discover there’s so much more for us to understand. While every child has a different experience of stuttering, it is not uncommon for a child or teen to start to experience feelings of isolation, shame, embarrassment, or frustration related to their communication differences.

Speech therapy for school-age children and teens begins with a comprehensive evaluation to assess not only what the stuttering looks and sounds like, but what they think and feel about stuttering and how that impacts the choices they are making each day.

While therapy is focused on the child, the involvement of parents/caretakers and other service providers is an integral part of SAY: Speech’s therapy process. The key people in your child’s life (e.g., school-based speech therapist, teachers, etc.) all contribute to understanding the priorities and goals of therapy. Some goals may address the observable features of stuttering, such as helping your child stutter with less physical tension, while other goals may focus on reducing the impact that stuttering has on your child’s life. These goals may focus on your child participating more in class, giving classroom presentations, making new friends, and/or dating, communicating with people at a restaurant or store, navigating college and job interviews, or responding to questions about stuttering or teasing.

Having the support of a stuttering specialist can help your family navigate the challenges of stuttering and support your child in becoming a confident and effective communicator, whether or not they continue to stutter!

In short:

• As your child gets older, we must not only address their stuttering but also explore your child’s thoughts and feelings about stuttering and how stuttering is impacting them daily.
• Parent/caregiver involvement and support are integral to any stuttering therapy program, although how we accomplish this will look different depending on your child’s age and preferences.
• Common goals include reducing physical struggle during stuttering moments, increasing classroom participation and comfort with presentations, building confidence in speaking with peers and new people, and responding to questions about stuttering or teasing!

If your child is between the ages of 7 and 18 and you have concerns about how stuttering is impacting their life, please schedule a free consultation or contact Brooke Leiman Edwards, MA, CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF at 646.403.3519 or Brooke@SAY.org.