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juslh
08-04-2011, 10:36 AM
Hiya, Im new to minding so still finding my way, and Im not sure how to approach the issue of my mindee having a stammer. Or even whether I need to. She is 3.6 years old and chatty, but really not very easy to understand, and has quite a pronounced stammer. When she is excited it is particularly bad. Parents have not mentioned it as yet, and I visited her pre-school today who are 'keeping an eye on it' tho have also not spoken to parents about it. Should I? Would I be worrying them if i did? Should she be assessed in some way..? I really dont know. Help!

little chickee
08-04-2011, 11:05 AM
I would mention it to the parents. Something like " I notice x has a bit of a stammer - what technique to you use to handle it".

Ask how they deal with it so you can do the same. Do they just patiently wait for her to finish? - do they help her with words she gets stuck on? Are there any speech therapy excersises you can do with her to help her out?

At 3 1/2 and if as you say it is quite pronounced her HV should have spotted it at refered her to speech and language therapy.

Explain to parents that its not something you have dealt with before so are keen to be doing things right to help her.

BuggsieMoo
08-04-2011, 11:16 AM
Also, look on the I CAN website, there is so much information on there that you can incorporate into every day talking to assist little one. x

Pipsqueak
08-04-2011, 12:21 PM
Whilst i don't have much experience of stammers - its ensuring the child is not rushed when talking, getting THEM to slow down, them knowing they have full attention of the listener and they are not fighting to be heart.


Check out Ican website

BuggsieMoo
23-04-2011, 10:14 AM
A little boy I look after has to clap as he speaks to slow himself down. So each word is reinforced with a small clap. It sounds crazy but works as he concentrates on the clapping and therefore not rushing his speech leading to the stammer. Might be worth a try.

xx

Francesca
23-04-2011, 10:31 AM
I have a stammer and have since I could talk. I am sure the parents are aware but I would also ask how they handle it.

I would try and speak slowly, but once I started the word I had to finish it regardless of the length of stammer if that makes sense, and yes it can get very bad when excited.. just patience, time and let them get the words out. Use to frustrate me something chronic people second guessing my word, only one that got it right was my brother :)

I have adopted tapping the bottom of my throat when I get stuck. I became very introverted when at school due to kids teasing really I would say, and thats affected more I think in the long term. As I got older the stuttering has gotten less, but never goes and the thought of it never goes.

The speech therapist will give exercises, and one that worked was singing the words... I never stutter when I sing and very few do if that helps any. However she will also find which sounds are particulary bad and the alphabet, as different combinations as well as letters cause it. Unluckily for me I was found to have problems with almost all sounds though can confidently say s and 7/6 are my worst now.

Hope that helps some, please feel free to ask me anything if I can help any.

Kind regards

Francesca

christine e
23-04-2011, 12:16 PM
It is quite common for children around the age of three to have stammers - here is a link

http://www.surreyspeechtherapy.co.uk/pdf/grapevine-article.pdf

Cx

Greengrass74
23-04-2011, 12:18 PM
Have a look at these sites, we have had several children with stammers over the past and often used these sites for advice.

http://www.stammeringcentre.org/Children%20Home
http://www.stammering.org/under5.html

Hope this helps

Dave

teacherinwales
23-04-2011, 01:02 PM
I had a girl with a stammer and additional speech issues (I say additional as she was quite unique in the fact that the speech therapist couldn't identify exactly what it was) in my class. I wouldn't try to finish her sentences for her or 'help' her, this just made it worse. I encouraged her to speak slowly and to look at me when she was speaking as she'd rush her words and would run off mid sentence. You could mention it to the parents to get some advice but some parents can be quite defensive, I suppose it all depends on how the issue is raised and the parents/children themselves - everyone's different.

Hebs
23-04-2011, 02:50 PM
best thing to do is slow your OWN speech down when talking to mindee, not letting other kids butt in or talk over them helps too

my daughter had a stammer which was corrected with speech therapy and i have a 3 yr old mindee with a stammer but doesnt stammer very much in my care as i immediatly put my experiences to use, mum has noticed an improvemnt too xx

alwaysright
23-04-2011, 03:12 PM
i would definately speak to the parents about it. i have looked after a child who stammered but was only 2-2.5 and the advice then was just to ignore it, not make a big deal of it, dont try and rush her and dont finish her sentences etc, she eventually stopped, i also had a child who was a bit older and with the help of the link worker from the childrens centre got him onto a speech programme, not therapy-its aimed at younger children to try to help correct before speech therapy, but given your childs age and the fact that they would be going to school soon i would speak with parents sooner rather than later, cant believe the nursery havent discussed it with them, dont be scared of upsetting the parents, i know mine were very appreciative of all the help and mum told me that as she didnt know were to go for help and i did then i made a big difference.