My 3 Year Old Son Has a Stutter, Need Help

hey H.. my son is 3 and does not studder but he did not speak until he was about 2 1/2. if you're really concerned you can call your local Regional Center and tell them. if they see a concern they will recommend he get evaluated. that's what i did. they sent him to the Child Development Institute where he was diagnosed with a speech delay. Regional then sent us to McRory Pediatric Services in Encino for speech therapy and they worked wonders on him. and it's all been free, i have not had to pay a dime. within just 2 weeks of speech he was starting to attempt words and they also taught him sign language which he picked up really quick and helped ease his frustrations about not being able to communicate. it's been 9 months and he talks up a storm. his words are not perfect, but he was recently diagnosed with autism, so they may never be. but the speech therapy has been a miracle. let me know if you need phone numbers or anything, i'll be happy to help and good luck!

K.

Hi Julie,

When my son was three he had speech problems as well. He was my first so I just figured that was his cute little voice. My nephew who was four asked my one day why his cousin couldn't say his name. My son talked like he had a southern accent. He also couldn't say some sounds, for instance, the letter v. He could point out the letter v to you but couldn't pronounce it. It came out as a b sound or he would refuse to say the word.

I asked my sister-in-law if she thought my son had a problem and she said yes. She didn't know how I felt about it so hadn't said anything. My son's preschool teacher also agreed he needed some help. They were not allowed to say anything unless asked. I felt really clueless as a mother at this point.:(

My son was evaluated and when it was determined he needed speech he attended a speech preschool for a couple hours a week. He loved it. They worked on speech with preschool activities. The kids didn't know they were working on speech.

When kinder rolled around he still needed speech. His speech therapy continued until the middle of second grade. He is now ten and speaks perfectly well.

My son started kinder at four and a half. I was concerned like you about his speech issue and being teased. You will be pleasantly surprised I think. The kids in the classroom never teased him about his voice. (I was in the room atleast once a week helping and had close teacher contact). It was explained to me that generally the kids are envious of those who go to speech or other learning activities because they are doing something special. I didn't really believe it. They also just accepted him for who he was. My son was reluctant to let speech go when it was time.

The only child I have ever witnessed tease my son was a ten year old when mine was six. We were at a party and I saw the whole thing. Luckily, so did this child's father and I do not think he would have teased anyone again after that.

To have your son evaluated, contact your local school district. This will be done at your closest school. It is a free service to you. It is not intimidating. They just ask him questions with you in the room, and they make it fun. The preschool may not be at your closest school but they will try to place him as close as possible to your home school. The preschool is also free.

I cannot say anything but wonderful things about our experience with speech. It was amazing to me how supportive all the kids were of each other. My son is a very self confident and self reliant boy. He truly has no issues that stem from his time in speech.

You are one step a head of me in recognizing that your son may need assistance. The evaluation is the first step and then you go from there.

Good Luck.

C.

Hi H., a lot of small children go through a studdering stage, our first child did, and eventually gre out of it, before kindergarten, I have also had a couple daycare kids who studder, but grew out of it as well, it it goes on into age 4 or beyond then I would get him checked, if you really need peace of mind do it now, he sounds like a really smart little boys who's mind is faster than his mouth. J. L.

Have there been any changes lately to his life lately? Stuttering can be caused by stress. My daughter started stuttering after her brother was born and it lasted about 3 months. The dr. said it's just one way kids handle stress or changes and not to worry.

Another possibility is just that his brain is working faster than his mouth and this is quite common in children. I see it in my preschoolers from time to time.

Either way, the best thing is just to ignore it. If you make it an issue, he will worry and stressa bout it, making matters worse. Give your ped. a call too just to see what he says.