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8 Tips to Help Your Child From Stuttering


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Parents are the frontline when it comes to giving the best possible care to the child. We give them clothes, food and shelter. But what if the child has a disorder like stuttering? Well, that love continues and you can also do it by knowing these tips.

1. Parents have to provide a supportive environment for the child. This means being patient with them and giving them a proper forum to speak their minds even if they do not say the words correctly. That may be hard given that we can talk normally but don’t you think you also had that problem while you were growing up?

2. You also have to create an environment where everyone takes turn when they are speaking. This will let them know that when someone is talking, they are quiet and when it is their turn, the other party will also give them the same courtesy.

3. When you speak to your child, only use short sentences and vocabulary that is appropriate to their age. If you have questions, let him or her finish answering one first before you ask another. This helps eliminate any frustration in trying to imitate complex phrases, sentences or words.

4. The most important tip is to be able to listen so you know the message they are trying to convey. How you respond to your child when they say something should be the same as how you will talk to a regular kid so that the child will not feel different. Eventually they will know notice that they speak differently from others but for now, just let them be.

5. As a parent, you are very understanding with what your child is going through but things are different when you leave the home especially in school because the kids who don’t know any better and they will laugh. As much as possible, don’t let your child speak in public or perform in front of others just yet. But if they want to, let them.

6. Your child’s siblings may just be as bad as some of the kids in school. When this happens, intervene immediately so this does not happen. Instead of making fun of the deficiency, everyone in the family must pull together and support each other.

7. A lot of people get the help of a speech language pathologist to help them deal with stuttering. There are various techniques that are used and with your help, you will be able to set realistic goals given that there is no known cure yet for this disorder.

8. Lastly, love your child for what he or she is. It is no one’s fault that the child is stuttering. In fact, scientists until now do not know yet what causes it even if there is evidence to suggest that it is genetic or something neurological that the child was born with. You just have to accept the fact that there is this problem and you are okay with it.

You can overcome stuttering by following these 8 simple tips. Will it be easy? The answer is no but as long as you provide the right environment, show a lot of love and support as well seek the proper help, the situation could get better as your child grows older.

Stuttering Medication

Stuttering remains one of the unsolved mysteries in the world of medical science. Many theories have shown different causes and effects for this problem of speech disorder though none of it has been proved thus far. Because of the uncertainty of its causes, appropriate medication has thus far not been discovered by the specialists. Research is going on in this area to effectively find remedy for the stuttering problem.

In spite of all this, there are a few medicines which are capable of reducing the stutter to a certain extent. But these medicines seem to have different effect on different people and were able to lessen the stutter only by 50%. Because of the uncertain effects of theses medicines on different sets of people much has been left to chance. The stutterers have to take the risk of consuming the medicine to check if it personally works for them.

Dopamine antagonist medicines are known to suppress stuttering. This is because it is observed that the brains of stutterers are found to contain high levels of dopamine. Haldol, Risperdal and Zyprexa are just some of the dopamine antagonist medicines which are known to work on a majority of stutterers. As mentioned above, they have different effects on different people. While for some people, the reduction in stuttering is well noticed for some others it worsens and in some cases it has also shown unpleasant side-effects. Also, stutterers who could be on medication for other problems need to be wary of taking these medicines because when taken with other medicines, these ones could cause severe side-effects on reaction with the other medicines.

On top of having to take so many precautions, stutterers must also be cautious against some other medicines which are known to trigger or worsen stuttering. Prozac and Zoloft are two drugs which are dopamine agonists and hence increase the dopamine level which are reasonable for aggravating stuttering.

Before taking up any medication, stutterers must consult their speech pathologists or therapists and only with their acknowledgement should they consume it. The stutterers must also realize that the medications do not work unless they are taken along with the speech therapy treatment. This means that the intake of just a pill will not cure stuttering and speech exercises are essential to ensure complete recovery from stuttering. And as always a patient mind and a calm persona can always help the stutterer in achieving a speedy recovery.

Click here for more information on Stuttering, Stammering and Stuttering treatment.