Should I Worry? Speech Issue

[SeaConquest]

My oldest son is 5.5. He has always been gifted verbally. He spoke in full sentences by 18 months, has a very expansive vocabulary, and listens for long periods to stories that are well beyond his age. He is very social, and has always spoken very quickly and effusively. But lately, he is starting to repeat sounds, and I am concerned that he might be developing a stuttering problem.

 

He will say things like:

 

"That was a really awesome dog, og, og."

 

"It looks like it is going to rain, ain, ain."

 

I don't know if this is related to the fact that he is learning to read and spell, and is very aware of rhyming patterns and word play. I don't think he shows signs of ASD.

 

Is this just a phase that some kids go through or should we see a speech pathologist to correct the issue before it turns into something more pervasive? Any thoughts and experiences are appreciated.

 

    

[Catwoman]

Have you asked him why he does it?

 

It sounds like it's probably something he started doing for fun, that has turned into a bit of a habit.

[SeaConquest]

Yes, I have asked. He doesn't seem to notice that he is doing it. It's like he is using it as filler space when talking very quickly. Where most of us would say, um or uh, he is doing the rhyming.

[jhschool]

I am not a professional, but this sounds totally normal.

 

 

Kids goof around a lot.

 

Try doing it too, a little.  See if he gets delighted that

you are joining into his game or if he is puzzled and

not happy.

 

I think it matters if he looks happy and interested when he does it.

 

[Catwoman]

Yes, I have asked. He doesn't seem to notice that he is doing it. It's like he is using it as filler space when talking very quickly. Where most of us would say, um or uh, he is doing the rhyming.

Maybe you could try reminding him to slow down when he speaks, and see if he still makes the extra sounds when he's intentionally speaking more slowly than usual.

[SeaConquest]

I am not a professional, but this sounds totally normal.

 

 

Kids goof around a lot.

 

Try doing it too, a little.  See if he gets delighted that

you are joining into his game or if he is puzzled and

not happy.

 

I think it matters if he looks happy and interested when he does it.

 

He is definitely happy when he does it, and has no reluctance to speak. In fact, it is the opposite. He is overly verbose. It most often occurs when he is excited about the subject, which is much of the time.

[klmama]

Mild neurological glitches like that seem to pop up around age 5-6.  A friend who is a SLP told me not to worry when one of mine started stuttering at that age, saying it would probably go away in a few months; she was right.  It might be worth making an appointment for fall, just in case it hasn't changed by then.  You can always cancel if he stops doing it.

[Mommyof4ks]

My youngest ds did that, and I forget what it is called. It is not stuttering, but it sounds silimar. It lasted a few months and then went away. If it persists I would look into it, but the brain changes so much around 5 that odd things do happen sometimes.

[Arcadia]

He doesn't seem to notice that he is doing it. It's like he is using it as filler space when talking very quickly. Where most of us would say, um or uh, he is doing the rhyming.

My 8 year old does exactly that, repeating the last word as a filler. He did that during his recent well baby checkup so the pediatrician saw what I was describing for himself.

 

It's not a speech issue but a behavior issue. The ped. advise is to remind and encourage him to stop it. The ped. classified it as a coping mechanism, while people would usually pause and think, my boy just repeats the last word to fill the pause.

[Annie G]

My boy did that around 7-8.  It went on for about 6-8 months then stopped. He also developed a head/eye twitch two years in a row during springtime.  That went away after like 3 months.  Oddly enough, after that he developed a wicked pollen allergy. That lasted until he was 18 and now he barely notices it. 

 

Kids are weird. 

[bolt.]

My early, proficient talker did/does that as a part of learning to read. I think she is identifying and breaking down the phonemes mentally, and just sort of "muttering" her mental process without knowing it.

 

When she was first learning to talk, she would also seemingly-compulsively repeat herself, even after she was understood. I genuinely worried about it for a bit, until I realized she wasn't actually repeating her sentences, but actually adjusting the grammar each time until she was satisfied that it sounded right. Did yours do that too? I think it's a similar thing, expressing the verbal learning process out loud.

[Tammi K]

My youngest daughter did something very similar about the age when she started kindergarten. For awhile she sounded just like the Duckie character in Land Before Time.   Her kindy teacher advised us to overlook it. It passed on its own within a few months.

[Jennifer132]

It's called word-final dysfluency. My best friend's dh does it, as well as their son.

[momto10blessings]

One of my sons did that for a while, probably age 4-5? But he'd say "dog, g, g" it want away on his own but it was a pretty cute backwards stutter .

[kbutton]

My 6 y.o. boy has some quirks like this. It can sometimes be anxiety or compulsiveness, or it can be having some fun with words. My husband remembers doing it at about the same age and growing out of it. My kiddo is also a slow processor, so I think it can be a glitch or a reassurance to himself related to his slow speed.

[sunnyday]

Both my kids have this type of word-final disfluency. I'm not really worried about my 5yo, she really seems to do it mainly when her thoughts get ahead of her mouth. It's like it gives her time to hear what she just said and get on to the next bit. I'm a little worried about my 7.5yo, he's improved over the years but just today I noticed a few words with repeated sounds. A disfluency/stuttering expert who saw a video of him at 6.5 said that if my momma gut said I should get him evaluated, then there might be some differentials to consider. However, I still haven't been concerned enough to take him to a SLP.

 

Their pediatrician wasn't worried about either of them in April at their well-child visits. He just said to encourage them to slow down and think about their words. :)

 

That said, with my kids it's pretty clearly unintentional. If you really think your DS could be playing with rhyming sounds that's certainly a possibility too!