MANILA, Philippines — QUESTION: I have a 10-year-old son who stutters. He really finds it hard to speak clearly and smoothly especially if he's talking to people he doesn't know and groups of people. He speaks easily, though not perfect, when he talks to us, his family. He has a speech therapist but I'm not seeing any big progress from him. Please help.

Stuttering which is also called stammering / “verbal non-fluency” is a speech difficulty where the stutterer tends to repeat words or syllable during an ongoing conversation.

Stuttering sometimes includes jaw clenching or a rapid eye blinking. It can range from mild to severe and usually starts in childhood.

How do you find a speech pathologist?
The goal of stuttering therapy for children is for them to learn to talk in an easier manner, to build positive emotions, and attitudes about talking; reducing the frequency of stuttering, decreasing the tension and struggle of stuttering moments, using effective communication skills such as eye contact or phrasing.

Hence, the length and type of therapy can vary greatly depending on your child’s needs.

Working together with a speech pathologist who is knowledgeable about stuttering will help your child learn to talk successfully and well.

The University of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital has training programs in speech pathology often have a speech clinic that will provide therapy for stuttering. Contact them and find out more
about having your child screened and evaluated for stuttering.

A material on stuttering by Lisa Scott-Trautman, Ph.D. would guide you in looking for a therapist to help your child. First, learn as much as you can about stuttering so you will know whether the specialist you choose is also knowledgeable about childhood stuttering.

The following questions are in particular very important to ask.
1. How comfortable are you with evaluating and treating stuttering?
This is important because some speech pathologists are not comfortable working with stuttering.

2. How many children who stutter have you worked with?
This will help you determine whether the speech pathologist has the kind of experience you need.

3. What do you think the primary goals of stuttering therapy should be for a child? 
This will help you decide whether the speech pathologist’s ideas about goals match your own.

4. What approaches do you use in speech therapy? How often is therapy scheduled?
It’s important that the therapy be scheduled at a time that will work well for you, your child, and the SLP.

5. What do you believe the parents’ role should be in speech therapy?

Finding a speech-language pathologist who believes that you have a crucial role in therapy and is willing to help you learn how to best help your child is an important part of this process.

What parents can do
According to Amy Nelson, parent may try these steps to help a child overcome stuttering:

1. Don’t require the child to speak precisely or correctly at all times. Allow talking to be fun and enjoyable.

2. Use family meals as a conversation time. Avoid distractions such as radio or TV.

3. Avoid corrections or criticisms such as "slow down," "take your time," or "take a deep breath."

4. Avoid having your child speak or read aloud when uncomfortable or when the stuttering increases. Instead, during these times encourage activities that do not require a lot of talking.

5. Speak slowly and clearly when talking to your child or others in his presence.

6. Maintain natural eye contact with your child. Try not to look away or show signs of being upset

7. Let your child speak for him or herself and to finish thoughts and sentences. Pause before responding to your child's questions or comments.

School-parent partnership is highly suggested. As a team, they can give encouragement and support the child. It is important to share your concerns with the teacher as she/he can help your child
express himself in the classroom, encourage his classmates to be more accepting, understanding and open-minded of his speech problem. Alyssa Ast, shares some teaching techniques that can be used in the classroom.

Speak with the child
Speak to the child privately. Let the child understand that speaking is part of the learning process and sometimes words are not spoken correctly. But with practice, he can improve speaking fluently. Being aware of his speech problem, he knows that you are there to support and help him.

Teasing policy
Create a no teasing policy in the classroom. Teasing can cause a child’s stutter to become worse. If a child has been teased, speak with him calmly and discuss ways he can properly respond if he is teased again. The child that did the teasing needs to be spoken with and told why teasing is inappropriate and the consequences if the teasing continues.

Reading aloud
Stuttering children can often read aloud without stuttering if they read in unison with another voice. When the classroom has to read aloud, use the teaching technique of allowing the children to read in pairs in unison. This eliminates the feeling of being singled out for the child that stutters and can build that child’s confidence.

Answering questions
It is best to pick the child that stutters early when answering questions because as the child sits waiting for a turn, the anticipation and tension can build up and cause stuttering.

With the teacher’s art of questioning, the child will easily answer questions aloud with the rest of the class. Before beginning to ask questions, assure the class they will have as much time as they need to answer.

Allen Yap said that parents as forerunner in giving the best possible care and support for their children “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.”

Finally, check the internet for information and read and learn more about stuttering. A very interesting true to life story of Dr. Alan Rabinowitz who suffered from a severe stutter as a child was able to overcome his speech disorder in a most unusual way. Please watch his story on video, “Talking to animals to cure stutter”. God bless.

Teresita De Mesa is registered professional educator with 35 years of teaching profession as a SPED and as regular classroom teacher. She is a full-time professor, teaching special education courses in the Special Education Department of the College of Education, Philippine Normal University and the Directress/Principal of St. John Ma. Vianney Special Education Learning And Resource Center. For questions on SPED, send e-mail to MByouthsection@gmail.com