Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Coping and support
By Mayo Clinic staffTo help your child feel less self-conscious about stuttering, try not to emphasize or dwell on the problem. Instead, create a supportive, relaxed home environment where your child has many chances to speak freely.
What can help
The following tips can help:
- Listen attentively to your child and maintain natural eye contact when he or she speaks.
- Wait for your child to say the word he or she is trying to say. Don't jump in to complete the sentence or thought.
- Set aside time when you can talk to your child without distractions. Mealtimes can provide a good opportunity for conversation.
- Speak slowly, in an unhurried way. If you speak this way, your child will often do the same, which can help decrease stuttering.
- Take turns talking. Encourage everyone in your family to be a good listener and to take turns talking.
- Strive for calm. Create a relaxed atmosphere in your home.
What to avoid
Feeling stressed, hurried or pressured can increase stuttering. Avoid the following, as they can increase these feelings in your child, making stuttering worse:
- Asking lots of questions
- Interrupting
- Insisting your child repeat stuttered words or telling him or her to start over when stuttering
- Encouraging your child to speak in front of a group of people
- Correcting your child with instructions, such as "Slow down," "Take your time" or "Take a deep breath"
- Telling your child to think before speaking
Don't punish your child for stuttering. Instead, be supportive of your child and try not to draw attention to the stuttering.
Connecting with other people
It can also be helpful for children and for parents to connect with other people who stutter. Several organizations offer support groups. Along with providing encouragement, support group members may offer advice and coping tips you might not have considered. You can reach the Stuttering Foundation at 800-992-9392 and the National Stuttering Association at 800-WESTUTTER (800-937-8888), or on their Web sites.
- Ropper AH, et al. Normal development and deviations in development of the nervous system. In: Ropper AH, et al. Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3634622. Accessed July 12, 2009.
- Prasse JE, et al. Stuttering: An overview. American Family Physician. 2009;77:1271.
- Stuttering. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/stutter.htm. Accessed July 11, 2009.
- Stuttering. American Speech-Language Hearing Association. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/stuttering.htm. Accessed July 11, 2009.
- 7 tips for talking with your child. The Stuttering Foundation. http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=632. Accessed July 12, 2009.
