Tips for Parents Who Have Children Who Stutter

Many parents want to know what they can do to help their children as they go through therapy for stuttering.

The fact is, parents play an important role in stuttering therapy and can make a huge difference in a child’s confidence as they learn to become successful communicators. 

If you’re a parent in this situation, some tips to help you help your child can be found here. 

Create a “Safe Zone” for Stuttering at Home

One of the best things parents can do to help their child is ensure they have a safe area at home where they will always be listened to and never judged if they stutter.

Be sure that all the adults who live in the house are on-board with this and work to avoid making comments or judgments about stuttering.

It’s also important to make sure siblings aren’t allowed to tease someone who stutters. While you can explain what it is and why it happens, make sure they are empathetic and compassionate. 

Develop Your Own Stuttering Acceptance 

It is okay to have some negative or mixed feelings related to stuttering. However, children pick up on their parents’ emotions, and you can help overcome this by getting comfortable with how people look and sound when they stutter. 

There are plenty of podcasts to help you with this, along with videos online. You can join support groups, as well. 

Taking time to become comfortable is extremely important if your child is working to improve their stuttering problems.

As your child becomes more comfortable, they may show you even more stuttering issues they show. You must be welcome to this and ensure that your child knows you support them. 

Talk About Stuttering Openly 

Some people never discuss stuttering. If you do this to your children, they may think it is extremely bad. Don’t let this happen to your child.

You should talk about stuttering, especially if your child brings it up. Not only will this help them feel more comfortable, but it will help others in your home be more accepting of it, too. 

Allow Your Child to Manage Their Speech

Your child will work in therapy to learn how to manage their stuttering. A key to this is teaching a child to figure out when stuttering occurs. Your child must learn to be their own speech therapist.

Sometimes, modification strategies are needed, while in other cases, the child needs to learn to let a stutter come out without feeling ashamed or embarrassed.

While comments like “take a breath” or “slow down” may seem helpful at the moment, they can have negative impacts on the process.

Instead, let them take control and figure out what works for them. 

Helping Your Stuttering Child

As mentioned above, parents play a huge role in helping a child overcome a stuttering issue.

Because of this, it is important to make sure that you take the right steps and offer the right type of help. This is going to pay off in the long run and benefit everyone involved.