Stuttering In Children: When To See A Speech Therapist?

Stuttering In Children: When To See A Speech Therapist?

stuttering-in-children

Stuttering In Children: When To See A Speech Therapist?

“Speech and communication are crucial for your child’s cognitive behaviour”~ Tarang clinic

Speech is an essential component of a child's cognitive development. Stuttering in children is a speech disorder in which the ordinary flow of the speech is disturbed and the child is unable to speak in entire sentences. Stuttering not only affects a child's ability to communicate confidently and correctly, but it can also cause social anxiety in adulthood and teenage years. A speech expert is important in helping your kid with identifying stuttering and assessing speech and language ability. Taking your child to a speech consultant early in their life can help them communicate properly.


Feel free to skip ahead if one topic catches your eye:

  1. What is stuttering in children?
  2. Causes of Stuttering
  3. What Are the Signs of Stuttering?
  4. How is stuttering diagnosed in a child?
  5. When to see the doctor?
  6. How can you help your child?
  7. Take away

What is stuttering in children?

Growing children can experience a wide range of speech issues. One such speech issue or condition is stuttering of speech. This speech disorder is most typically seen in children aged two to six. When a child begins to talk, he or she has an uneven pace of speech and tends to repeat specific words or phrases. A child may also have fragmented speech flow or be unable to adequately explain what they are attempting to say.


Causes of Stuttering

Stuttering in children can be caused by a number of factors. It can be caused as the result of an abnormality of sensory and motor coordination and control. Any problems or irregularities in these two areas of coordination might lead to speech impairments and stuttering disability. Other factors, in addition to motor and neural control, are:

  • Emotional stress experienced as a kid can have an impact on the child's speech.
  • Brain stroke or any brain injuries
  • Neurological conditions like dementia in children.
  • Oral cancer or mouth cancer
  • Abusive environment
  • Abnormality with motor and sensory control
  • Genetics. a child has a higher frequency of suffering from speech disorders if anyone else in the family also stutters.
  • Brain damage

What Are the Signs of Stuttering in children?

As a child is unable to correctly phrase or communicate, the initial indications and symptoms of stuttering disability may be immediately evident. They may repeat certain sounds or phrases. They also talk at a consistent tempo of speech. Some symptoms or indicators that you may observe in your child are as follows:


Differences between audiologists and speech-language pathologists

Although they share certain similarities, audiologists and speech-language pathologists also differ in various respects as follows:

  • Taking a long time to speak and pausing several times while speaking
  • Using filler words such as hmmm and uhh
  • suffering from severe social anxiety
  • Inability to construct proper phrases
  • face tics or head jerks
  • blinking fast while speaking
  • Several broken words
  • Shaking or tremors of the lips
stuttering-in-children

How is stuttering diagnosed in a child?

Stuttering is normally diagnosed with the help of a speech pathologist and a qualified speech therapist for kids. In general, the diagnosis is non-invasive, and no tests are required. Stuttering in children can be diagnosed simply by observing how the child speaks. The speech therapist for kids might place the child in different conditions to observe how they behave and speak in such situations. Specialists may also assist in determining whether there are any other causes of stuttering, as well as providing thorough assessments such as the kid's capacity to speak effectively and the date of the speech, as well as the frequency with which the child stutters.

When to see a Speech Therapist?

It is critical to observe your child in order to detect any speech abnormalities early in their life. When a kid first starts to communicate and speak, it is critical that you pay close attention to their speech and how they speak. For children who are learning to speak, stuttering is a common condition, and your kid may stuttur at some point. However, if this persists and the stuttering continues, therapy and diagnosis are essential. It is crucial to see a doctor if you observe any symptoms such as:

  • Chronic stuttering that has lasted for more than half a year.
  • Increased stuttering as the child grows.
  • Stuttering is affecting the child’s overall ability to effectively communicate and grow at school
  • the child is suffering from social anxiety in situations where they might require to speak
  • struggling while speaking
  • Showing the signs of visible ticks like clenching the jaws or blinking rapidly.

A speech specialist will be the ideal person to handle the full examination of stuttering and the reasons behind the specific problem. They will also provide a proper treatment for stuttering.

How can you help your child?

Taking your child to a speech therapist will assist in the development of your child's communication and cognitive skills. Proper speaking abilities are important as a kid grows because they help them learn and communicate effectively with their peers.

  • When there is a lack of basic communication skills they might experience great anxiety and get frightened when they have to talk. This will have an adverse effect on their overall growth. You can assist your child by being with them and reassuring them that this is normal.
  • It is critical that you do not place unnecessary pressure on your child to speak perfectly.
  • It is always best to take your child to a speech therapist. A specialist can assist them in overcoming their issues and speaking correctly.
  • Attempting to overcome stuttering involves a great deal of patience, love, and understanding on your part as a parent. It is critical that you be with your child while they attempt to overcome starting
  • A good speech therapist can help a child properly overcome their speech problems in the long run.

Take away

As parents, we understand how tough it may be to assist your child when they have a stuttering speech. This is where tarang clinic's professionals come in. The Tarang Clinic has a staff of highly skilled speech therapists in Delhi that can give continuous assistance as well as excellent treatment and therapy to your child.