A common problem in speech fluency is stuttering. As the child develops his speech, a childhood disorder may be observable. Stuttering is a disorder of childhood (developmental) that is characterized by an abnormally high frequency or duration of stoppages in the forward flow of speech.
Stuttering is sometimes mistaken for normal developmental disfluency. However, a child who stutters has escape behaviors, avoidance behaviors, and other secondary behaviors called physical concomitants. Stuttering is usually accompanied by eye blinks, head nods, jaw tremors and total body gyrations.
Management For Stuttering
Between the ages 1 ½- 11 years old, stuttering may manifest in some children. However this kind of fluency disorder mostly occurs during early childhood stage, from 2-6 years old. Parents can tell if their children has this condition when the speech has 5% or greater repetitions and 1% or greater prolongations.
Therapeutic intervention is the best approach to help overcome this condition. These include environmental manipulation, direct work with the child, psychological therapy, desensitization therapy, parent-child interaction therapy, fluency-shaping behavioral therapy, and parent and family counseling