pooh bear Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 My ds is 11 and along with some minor speech problems, stutters. He started going to speech therapy 2 months ago, and has made very good progress with his speech. The trouble is, his stutter seems to be getting worse. His stutter started about 2 years ago, but it was only the mildest of things. The odd word, once or twice a week would give him problems. Now it is getting hard to hold a conversation with him some days. When he is having a very bad day, his eyes roll back, one side of his jaw will hang down, he almost seems to throw the words out. We have asked his therapist about this, and she says that he is very intelligent and he thinks quicker than he can speak. As a result, the words are getting caught up and this is causing him to stutter. To us, this does not seem like a good explanation. What else could this be a sign of? He never stuttered as a small child, it has only been in the past couple of years. His stutter is having a great impact on his schooling. Oral narrations, Latin vocabulary, book discussions, are all so difficult for him some days; he is almost in tears with frustration. I have stopped asking him to do these things, but how else am I to know that he understands a book, knows his Latin vocabulary? What can we do to help him and do you think we should find a different therapist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 What can we do to help him and do you think we should find a different therapist? It's a different layer of training. Good luck - Hobbes stutters intermittently, but therapy has helped. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 It's a different layer of training. Good luck - Hobbes stutters intermittently, but therapy has helped. Laura :iagree: http://www.stutteringhelp.org/ is a good place to begin. My dd is 4 and has a significant stutter that developed in the last year. Having a well trained therapist has made a world of difference in her ability to self regulate and self correct. When we changed therapists earlier this summer to one that focuses more on stuttering, the improvement was huge. We made more progress in that first month than in the several months prior. If your child is not making improvement, then I can't recommend moving him to a new therapist fast enough. Your son is showing several signs of serious stress related to his stuttering that indicate he needs some significant intervention. The longer it persists the more difficult it will be to correct. Stuttering is much more than the brain moving faster than the mouth, especially if it is becoming worse. My dd's therapist gave her multiple tests of fluency in addition to watching her body language as she spoke before making an official diagnosis. Parts of her evaluations were videotaped so the SLP could watch for physical signs of stress and how my dd specifically responds to her own stuttering. The evals lasted well over an hour just for the fluency. They spend an hour at a time in therapy practicing techniques that help reduce stress and to give dd control and confidence. We have several homework assignments each week as well. Each one is age appropriate and we spend at least an hour a day working on it. My dd also receives therapy for stuttering ONLY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacefully Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 His stutter is having a great impact on his schooling. Oral narrations, Latin vocabulary, book discussions, are all so difficult for him some days; he is almost in tears with frustration. I have stopped asking him to do these things, but how else am I to know that he understands a book, knows his Latin vocabulary? I noticed that my dd does not have a fluency problem when singing or when playing with her toys using different voices.( Usually every doll has her own voice as provided by my dd ;)) I mentioned this to her therapist today and she said that is common and that there are actually studies showing how stuttering decreases or even disappears while someone is singing or acting in a theatrical role. Maybe if you have your son give oral reports and such in theatrical voices (today is pirate day for example) you can hear the information you need to hear while he can get tell you what you need to know with out becoming ovverly frustrated in the meantime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acat Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 His stutter started about 2 years ago, but it was only the mildest of things. The odd word, once or twice a week would give him problems. Now it is getting hard to hold a conversation with him some days. When he is having a very bad day, his eyes roll back, one side of his jaw will hang down, he almost seems to throw the words out. Feel free to shoot me down, but I am putting two pieces of personal experience to together. My younger daughter has Tourettes and does the same thing with her mouth and sometimes eyes. My older daughter probably is somewhere on that spectrum as well. She frequently repeats the last word in every sentence. For example: I went to the store ... store... store. After some research, we decided this was probably a vocal tic, given that she has some other vocal and motor tics from time to time. (Like excessive throat clearing, tapping her stomach.) Tourettes and other tic disorders frequently manifest around 7 to 10 years of age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 His stutter started about 2 years ago, but it was only the mildest of things. I am going to be watching this thread closely because my 1st grader has just started a mild stutter. He gets caught up on both words and sounds though. He is my dc with HFA and a few other issues :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aly9712 Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I'm watching this thread too. Last year when dd was 6, she began receiving speech services for articulation. In the last few months, a stutter has been coming on strong and is usually triggered when upset, anxious or excited. Now I'm seeing it in more everyday speech. Once school starts back up she'll start back up with therapy (it's school based). Stuttering does run in the family.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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