4 Year Old Is Stuttering

More input from another Speech-Language Pathologist. Without calling it to his attention, I would start keeping track of his dysfluencies (specific words,when the stuttering increases, etc.) Get an appointment with a SLP for evaluation. If you live near a university with a Communication Disorders Dept., thats another great place to start. But first, you should relax...sometimes these things work themselves out.

Maybe he will out grow it, but ask yourself, does my son look any different at this age than a kid who will not out grow it? Do you have any way to tell, other than a pediatrician telling you that he would, and at that, said "most likely"? What if he is one of the few that will not?

Make an appointment with a speech pathologist and get him evaluated. Get the therapy, and find out for sure. In this day and age, doctors will send our kids off for medical testing at the drop of a hat if they suspect the rarest of disorders, to protect themselves from malpractice, but they routienly tell parents to wait and see for developmental concerns that can be effectively treated with early intervention. Why wait to see when you can have an answer and know for sure? Is it worth the risk that he might continue to stutter much longer than he might if you got therapy? And think about this, what is the worst thing that could happen, if you get an unnecissary evaluation and the therapist tells you that he has no issue and it will absolutley go away? Wouldn't it be worth it? You have far more to gain, than you have to loose.

M.

I agree with Martha. It doesnt hurt to get him tested. My oldest daughter went to speech when she was about 4 and it was all taken care of by the school district. It was all free. My daughter didnt stutter, she had other issues but is fine now. I know sometimes kids get too excited and cant sort out the words and will stutter and it may be something he will grow out of, but it may also be something he wont ,without help. Its better to be safe than sorry.. the worst they will tell you is that he will be fine and doesnt need it. You really cant go wrong. Get him tested. :0)

hello- mom and speech pathologist here- and just wanted to quickly respond and agree with the previous post- look into early childhood intervention- just call your local school district and they can help point you in the right direction. It's free and easy! In my opinion- it seems that the difficulty has gone on too long for it to be considered typical (some kids DO go through a developmentally typical period of dysfluency- but it usually only lasts a few months- and is usually between the ages of 2-3). Especially if this is frustrating for him- I would look into some speech services. They will help determine if this is "typical" or a actual stuttering difficulty- and either way they can help give you some great tips to help out at home.

Here is a great website in the meantime:

http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/healthaz/Normal-Dysfluency-...

http://generalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/is_stutte...

Also- remember not to interrupt him during a dysfluency- just let him work it out then repeat back to him what he said- modeling slow steady speech- and do this by not correcting him.

for the last 20 years we have done research on all kinds of LD problems that a child might develope & speech problems are among them , it is quite common for boys to go through a phase of what I have coined as the fear stage , it`s all a simple matter of nervousness of which in time he will grow out of the stuttering habit as he becomes more assured of himself , now amoung the B Complex vitamins B12 is the one responsible for the repair of the entire nervous system but like myself if a child is born without the intrinsic factor (a part of the stomach lining) known in medical circles as pernicious anemia , this kind of condition (if suspected) should be checked into ASAP , because with out the ability to process B12 a child will (not could) suffer from irreversible Brain Damage , from a dietary view point, Liver, fish and many types of meat are the best levels of B12 concentrations.

Your son is learning a huge number of new words every day and is excited to put them into use. His mouth is not able to keep up with his brain. Just keep reminding his to slow down and keep very calm and everything should work out. It is hard to have a big boy vocabulary and a little boy mouth. LOL LOL

I usually ask about diet in this sort of situation. B-complex is very helpful. I know of one that works better than others because it is a complex B vitamins. ALL are available and they work in tandem with each other. B's are compromised when a lot of sugar is consumed. A lot is a variable, depending on each person's sensitivity.

Is it stuttering (getting the first sound/phoneme out) or is trouble selecting the word. It is very normal for 4 year old to get excited and trouble getting the right word out. Their vocabulary is going wildly and they get stuck. It will likely become less and less common as he gets older.

I think you should have him evaluated - if nothing else but peace of mind. My son is going to be 6 in July, he is a kindergartner this year. He has been on an IEP for speech/language development for 2 years now. His problem was not speech - it was language. He could articulate the words when he had them - that was the difference - he didn’t always have the words. About August of last year we noticed he had started stuttering. Not often but enough that we noticed it. When school started we mentioned it to his speech teacher who said she would monitor it. She also gave me some great advice - someone else mentioned it as well. Not to interrupt him but to let him work it out and then repeat back to him in normal speech. And not to ever bring attention to it - so he doesn’t think there is anything "wrong" with him. She also said what she witnessed was the times he would stutter were when he was excited or anxious - his mind was working faster than his mouth could produce the words so it was something that he would eventually work out. School is almost over and he still occasionally does it but we notice its when he is particularly excited to tell us something and often times he has had to wait his turn (we have a 12 year old daughter and its often hard to get a word in edgewise!) We encourage him to slow down and take his time. Good luck!

If your son is in preschool, have him tested. My dd is in our village preschool, and she started speech for the same thing when she was 3. I also had a meeting with the speech teacher to ask her advice on how I should act when she would stutter. I assumed it was just a phase that most kids go thru, but I didnt want to make matters worse. (fyi...her stuttering is almost gone and she is 4 1/2) If he's not in school, check with your village. They should be the most helpful to your son and you! Good Luck!

My son does the same thing, but more when he's excited or if he knows the answer is going to be "no". His doctor said it's perfectly normal for boys to do this (at about age 3.5 for him). I was told they would outgrow it and not to bring it up but to ignore it and it will go away on it's own. My son now just studders (if that's what you call it), every now and again. He'll say "mom, can, can, can, .... I go outside and play" (knowing very well, he can't go out by himself and neither me or my husband can't go with him at that time).

To me, studdering is more like "mom ca, ca, ca, ca, ca"

It can be normal but if you are contining to worry it might be a good idea to have him evaluated by a speech therapist. You could contact your insurance to find one that is in your network or google pediatric speech therapists in your area(insurance most likely will not pay for the evaluation). Or you can contact your school district and see if he can be evaluated by a therapist there(it would be free of charge).

My little cousin stuttered sometimes. Especially the harder he tried to concentrate and say the words correctly.
I think he had speech in frist grade to try to help him. He did out grow it eventually. I think by 5th grade at the latest.