20 Month Old Started Stuttering....

My 24 month old son recently started stuttering. You can tell that he is trying to think of what to say next, because he always stutters in the middle of a sentence and repeats a t or s sound until he can think of the next word he wants to say. He has always been advanced linguistically as well. I am not going to worry about it until he is older. We must remember that they are still learning. At age 3, the school district will evaluate them, and provide speech therapy services for free if they determine there is a need. Just have patience when you listen to her. Give her time to get it all out.

I don't think you need to worry about her stuttering right now. I think her mind is thinking faster then her mouth can speak. My son went thru the same thing & I too was worried thinking i will need to get him a speech therapist but he eventually grew out of it. Same thing w/my goddaughter, she is advance just like your daughter w/speaking very well for their age. All of sudden she started stuttering. She has now grew out of it too.

I just had to remind them to slow down & think about about what they are trying to say & then speak.

I am sure your daughter will be fine. Just give it some time. =)

Most of the time it is normal....both my kids do this when they go through phases. The words come out slower than their brains, so this happens. It usually goes away. if it continues for a long time, you should have her evaluated.
K.

Could it be the change in your living situation? Is her step-brother attentive to her? Is he getting more attention?

I always look at what is going on at home before I go to the doctor. If there have been some changes, it just might be the reason she is stuttering. Of course, it never hurts to call the doctor or get her evaluated. My son is in speech, so I know how important it is to get help early if there is a problem.

My son did the same thing when he was 3. My neighbor is a speach teacher and she told us this is normal. She said his mouth couldn't keep up with his brain. She said to just ignore it and not to finish his words for him. It's was very hard not to, I wanted so badly to help him get the words out, but he did stop stuttering after a short while. This is a phase that will pass.

I was blessed with some advice from a Speech Language Pathologist friend who I met when my son was young and having some stuttering issues. She told me that stuttering meant that there was a language growth spurt. Sure enough, every so often when he'd be in a phase of stuttering, it would subside with him speaking longer sentences (and probably more sounds, I am deaf so can't really tell for sure here).

Now this is for stuttering that comes for a while then goes, not persistent stuttering. Just keep an eye on it. A few months at a time is normal, I think. Encourage your daughter to take her time getting out what she wants to say, she just is trying to say more than her body has ability to keep up with. It's a way of her body growing and stretching to keep up with her mental & linguistic abilities.

(And I just have to mention, Signing Time videos are wonderful! Use sign language with your daughter - and anyone else you meet that signs as well! My son still stuttered as he was growing up every so often but we were still able to communicate.)

Hi P.,
I'm an OT working for a local school district, and I've got 2 little ones.
Good talkers will stutter very often just because their mouths can't keep up with all the thoughts they are trying to express.
Also, it's normal to see stuttering get worse with stress (our 2 yo started stuttering after the second baby came).
*IF* you bring attention to it (finishing their sentences for them; talking about it with them -or where they can hear you talking about it; or focusing on it in some way) you *will* increase the chances of making the stutter a real problem.
I just kept track of when/how often my son would stutter. After a few weeks (once all the new-baby hubbub was over) I noticed it started to decrease. Now, (a year later) he rarely stutters, no worse than anyone else.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it :)
T

Hi P.,
My daughter did the same thing when she was about 2 or 3. She just couldn't get words out of her mouth no matter how hard she tried. It was extremely frustrating. About 2-3 weeks into this scary and frustrating experience I got a really bad case of strep throat. When I was a child I was a carrier of strep throat showing virtually no symptoms of it whatsoever. So whenever one of us gets strep I have the whole family tested. Sure enough, she had it too. And within a couple days of treatment with antibiotics her stuttering completely disappeared. As I related this experience to others I did find one other parent who always knew when her child had strep throat because of stuttering. I know it sounds crazy and every doctor I've told has thought it was "interesting". This may or may not help but either way I hope you find out what is going on soon. I was really scared when it happened to us.

I would take her to her local school to have her see the speech therapist for an evaluation. Speech problems need early intervention. Also perhaps your living arrangements have changed enough to impact her emotionally. She went from being an only child to being the second child rather abruptly, apparently.

D.

What is different in your child's life? You mentioned a 13 y/o stepson living with you, watch this relationship very closely. She could be jealous, scared, or just frustrated at the change. Please watch this relationship very closely without making the s-son feel threatened. Just caution!!!!

I am also an older mom. My first son was born at age 35 and my second at age 42. We dealt with infertility issues. Anyway, I would contact Alta Mira or RCI or the UNM Speech and Hearing dept. All are in the phone book and wonderful resources when it comes to speech issues. I believe all 3 will test your son for free to see if there are any issues or problems. Yes, there is a program through APS called Child Find that helps children with speech at age 3 and above. My older son is 9 and has been in speech therapy since age 2 and my younger son is 2 and currently receives speech therapy through these wonderful organizations. Check it out.

Y. Butcher

This is VERY normal!! Many kids do this. It's just that their brains are going so fast and their little mouths and tongues just can't keep up! My daughter did this around 2 yrs old and she was/is very verbally advanced. She stopped by 3 and she's now a 4 1/2 yr old reading at 2nd grade level, very articulate with a great vocabulary.

Don't worry about it. Just let her take her time and get the words out. It can be very frustrating for the child - they have SO much to say and just can't get it out fast enough! Even if a child is a true stutterer, my doctor said it wouldn't be evaluated or diagnosed at such a young age. My son, now 3, does it now. He's not at all as verbal as his sister and he seems to do it worse sometimes. I'm told if it's still strong at about age 5, that's when it can be assessed. Perhaps having her new brother around has contributed to her frustration and makes her that much more determined to assert herself, but I wouldn't worry about it being a "cause."

PS - if you really want to have her checked, your ped. can give you an Early Intervention recommendation. They will come out to your house and do an assessment. At this age, it would not come from the school district. (Our son was evaluated by IE when he first came home... see below)

PSS - our daughter is bio, our son was adopted from Russia. Both are such blessings... maybe your husband will open his mind in the future. We are so lucky to have them both. Not that there's anything wrong with having an "only!" Just that people's minds can change. :)