Stuttering Treatment For School Aged Kids

Stuttering Treatment for School Aged Kids

Stuttering treatment for school aged kids is different from the one used on preschoolers. This is because the objectives for both are different. The goal for preschoolers is simply to help the child develop fluent “normal” speech. For school aged children, the goal is to treat what causes stuttering.

Another thing that school aged kids need to do is learn to control their physical behavior whenever they stutter. The eyes usually blink while the body or the head shakes. School aged kids need to improve on that too so the type of therapy they need does not only focus on fluency.

For that, you will need to bring your child to a speech language pathologist who is comfortable working with kids at their age. They have to be certified and licensed as well so if you don’t know where to find one, look online and visit the website of the Stuttering Foundation of America.

There is no cure for stuttering. In fact, each case is different which is why treatment for school aged kids has to be customized. This begins of course by bringing your kid to the clinic so the speech language pathologist can make a diagnosis.

Whichever treatment is used, the objective is the same and that is to ensure kids who stutter are able to communicate effectively and freely. Given that there is no cure for this disorder, you cannot expect that the child will be 100% fluent.

What you should expect is that your kid will be able to deal effectively with stuttering so it will not prevent them from communicating.

So how does stuttering treatment work for kids? This involves many components. One example which is very common is that when kids stutter, there exists physical tension and disruptions in timing.

If this is the case, the speech language pathologist may use one of several techniques such as easy onsets, easy speech, easy starts, slow speech and smooth movements. It will be a trial and error phase until such time that the most effective technique is found.

Physical tension is normal whenever the person feels stuck. The only solution is to learn how to relax but this is easier said than done given that when the kid is in a moment of stuttering, things get worse. One technique is to let the kid accept the fact that this disorder is not going away. There is no cure so there is n point in fighting it.

Strange as it may seem, this strategy works because the kid no longer feels scared about how people will react. Studies have shown that this leads to less stuttering and more effective communication.

Treating school aged kids for stuttering takes time and there are many things that the specialist has to consider before recommending the proper treatment. You as a parent should do your share by working together with the specialist and at the same time reinforce the lessons with love and support at home.

School aged kids who do not get proper help for stuttering will have problems for the remainder of their lives. They will not be able to socialize properly and always avoid opportunities in which they are given the chance to speak. They are in short, missing out on a lot of things that are good for their development.