¿Tartamudeo o falta de fluidez?

Art by 5yo BP

Question: My three-year-old daughter has started repeating a lot of words and sounds. She doesn't seem to mind. Is this normal or is she stuttering? Otherwise, she is growing and developing normally.

Answer: Many toddlers and preschoolers between the ages of 2 and 5 are going through a developmental stage in which they stutter. Stuttering is a form of disfluency and interruption in the flow of speech. Children often repeat words and entire phrases and may introduce fillers such as "uh" and "um" into their speech. This is called "normal disfluency." When you consider that children this age are still learning to speak, developing coordination of the muscles used in speaking, learning new words, putting words together into sentences, and discovering how to ask questions and influence outcomes with their words, it's easy see why they acquire disfluencies. Although many parents are concerned, most of these children will outgrow stuttering and have normal speech as they grow older.

What is stuttering?

Many authors do not entirely agree with the way stuttering is defined.

Speaking of stuttering, we should first talk about:

What does a person who stutters do?

What does a person who stutters feel?

What does a person who stutters think?

What does a person who stutters need? and

What person stutters with intentions?

Professor Zbigniew Tarkowski points out that it is not that stutterers speak illiterately throughout their speech, but rather that the periods of fluently articulated speech are relatively longer than the periods of their illiquid articulation.

Stuttering is a global communication disorder.

Stuttering is an acquired skill, not an inherent one.

Stuttering is not a condition but a characteristic.

The sting is most often achieved in spontaneous speech.

Stuttering occurs in relation to the "evaluating" listener.

Evaluating the listener becomes a "perpetrator" of stuttering.

The chain refers to a person as a whole, e.g. to all spheres of its operation.

The essence of the stutterer's problem lies precisely in the fact that he is essentially capable of pronouncing each isolated voice or word, but stuttering is only realized at the level of free and spontaneous expression.

What causes stuttering?

The causes of stuttering are not precisely known, it is a very complicated and complicated condition. However, more is known about environmental factors. Stress, for example, can affect stuttering. To be clear: Parental behavior does not cause stuttering.

A fact: three times more boys than girls stutter.

Early signs

The first signs of stuttering may appear after the second birthday or when a child begins to put words together to form sentences. For parents, this may be annoying, but it is a normal stage in speech development. Showing patience with your child and adopting a cautious, responsive and informed attitude is best during the preschool years. A child may have fluency problems for a few weeks or several months, and the symptoms go away and perhaps come back. Most children who start stuttering before age 5 will lose fluency.

The school years

When children enter elementary school, they sharpen their communication skills. Typically, disfluency drops to very low levels. If stuttering continues in the school-aged child, he is old enough to be aware of the problem and may feel embarrassed by the fact. Classmates and friends may attract attention. However, even children with chronic, severe stuttering can be helped with learning strategies that can improve communication.

Art by 5yo BP

When to seek help

Your child may benefit from professional intervention, especially if:

are worried or anxious about your speech

repetitions of words and complete phrases become excessive

repetitions of sounds and syllables begin to occur more frequently.

your child seems to have trouble speaking

the disfluencies begin to be strained or tense

notice increased facial tension or stiffness in your speech muscles

note vocal tension that increases pitch or volume

your child chooses to avoid situations in which he would have to talk

If your child's speech is characterized by any of these warning signs, you should consult a speech-language pathologist at your child's school or doctor's office.

Art by 5yo BP

What can parents do

Don't require a child to speak correctly at all times.

Let talking be fun and enjoyable.

Use family mealtime as a time for conversation.

Avoid distractions like radio or television.

Avoid corrections or criticisms such as “slow down,” “take your time,” or “take a deep breath.” These comments will only make your child think that he is doing something wrong.

Avoid having your child speak or read aloud when he or she is uncomfortable or when disfluency increases.

Don't tell your child to start over.

Don't tell your child to think before speaking.

Provide a calm environment at home. Try to slow down the pace of family life.

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

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

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

Encourage activities that don't require much talking when your child is more fluent.

Talk slowly to your child. This takes practice! Modeling a slow speech rate will help with your fluency.

Here are some sites about stuttering:

The fascinating trick to overcome childhood stuttering according to Ed Sheeran

https://www.guiainfantil.com/blog/salud/lenguaje/el-fascinante-truco-para-vencer-la-tartamudez-infantil-segun-ed-sheeran/