Okay....some advice is needed. My little guy has turned into a stutterer. At first I thought nothing of it, he would just randomly select a few words like me or you and repeat them a few times at the beginning of a sentence. Thiago and I would just kinda smile and listen to what he was trying to say. It was always at the first of his sentence and would go something like "Me, me, me, me, me, me want juice" or "you, you, you, you, you want to hold me", something like that. Well over the past two weeks or so, he is doing it more and more. Only it is not just me and you anymore it is almost any word he is trying to say at the beginning of his phrase almost everytime he talks. It is so crazy.
This is what has Thiago and I worried. We did some research, well when I say we I mainly mean Thiago. He gets very worried about things like this and has a tendency to overreact when it comes to Carson. We found out that in most cases this is just a phase and something they will grow out of. However if they have these signs then it could become a lifelong problem. First sign...runs in the family. Both my mom and Ashley have struggled with this their whole lives, my mom can't even give a sacrament prayer or a work training cause her stuttering can get so bad. Same as Ashley...so it definitely runs in the family. Second of all, if the child is learning more than one language. Well that is definitely my kid. Reason being, they are kind of overloaded on words and start to regress and get nervous when speaking. Hmmm...also if when speaking they say "ma, ma, ma mommmy...stuttering less than 3 times that is normal. However if it is repeated more than 3 times, the way Carson does it can be more serious. It is most common in boys at the age of 3 1/2. This all fits him completely. Which has Thiago thinking the worst, and he wants to get him into speech therapy or something. I am not sure what I think of it all. I want to say it is just a phase and hope it will stop. However I have seen in my own family how hard this can be. I hate to think of him struggling in school, with his peers and that kind of thing. What do you all think, have any of your kids or siblings struggled with this. As of right now, we don't bring it up at all to Carson. We don't point it out or make him feel self conscious about it. We just try and talk slow and calm to him, so he can maybe try and immitate us. I don't know, why do kids cause us so much worry. I know this may seem small to some of you, but when it is your own child. Well, you just worry. Anyways....give me your thoughts.
14 comments:
Honestly being a person that stutters I know how hard it can be. But honestly I think speech therapy will only in ways make it worse. For me it would have anyways. I think I would have been even more self consious that it wouldn't have done any good. My advie is don't worry about it so much. All kids have something they will struggle with in school. He will learn from it. My problem was I was so self conscious with people I went to school with that is what made things worse for me. Now I only catch myself every once in awhile. Don't worry and don't do anything drastic that may make things worse for him. I say just leave it alone.
I say listen to Ash it's hard to say as a non stutterer but Ash definitely is one so I think she would know what she's talking about. I think it maybe would make him feel more nervous, and self consious about it if it was brought to his attention. Maybe it's just something he will outgrew of as he gains more of a vocabulary and becomes used to talking in full sentences. I don't know though I think it's just important to remember your are his mother and you know him best and what will help him the best. I am sure it is different with every kid, kind of like Luke's hearing loss you can get all kinds of info. but when it comes down to it you just have to follow your mother's instinct.
I sucked my thumb when I was little and my mom forced me to stop when she put a band-aid on my thumb. That made me stutter soooo bad. So she let me suck my thumb and I had a stutter AND was a thumb sucker....I struggled for a while and then I got better. Just give it some time I think.
I don't think you guys are over reacting at all. I think you are doing the right thing by not pointing it out when it happens. I would give it some more time and see if he grows out of it. My husband stuttered as a child and at times catches himself doing it still. He did have speech therapy and for him it worked really well. I really think it just depends on Carson's personality and the way he learns to know whether it would be something to put him in. I'm sure you know him better than anyone and you'll make the right choice on what to do. Just remember that every child is different so what may not work for one child, could work for another. I wouldn't rule out speech therapy just because it didn't work for your sister Ashley. Though I'm sure it's really nice to have someone who can relate to what Carson is going through. You guys are really good parents, Carson is going to grow up and be a great boy no matter what.
If you are going to put him in speach therapy I think the earlier the better so he isn't self consious about it when he starts school. My son also would stutter a little bit but now he doesn't. So it could be a phase. Good luck
I really don't know much about this. But I think it can't hurt to have someone look into it while he is still so young. Good luck, I know your probally so worried but things will work out. Keep us posted!
It is something you shouldn't just ignore, but I taught many, many kids who stuttered. I also stuttered when I was about his age, I grew out of it by the time I went to school. You are just being a good mom, keep an eye on it but he is still pretty young. I think all parents worry, you aren't alone.
Isn't it fun being a mom. The fact that you and Thiago are so worried just shows what good parents you guys are. My nephew stuttered really bad. Like it took him a good 20 seconds to get his sentence started most of the time. It was so cute - but my brother and his wife were sooo worried. (just like you guys) It has been almost 3 years since that all started and he is doing AMAZING. He rarely stutters - except for when he's excited. They thought it would definately be a lifelong problem - they were even told by teachers that he needs help. But he ended up just growing out of it. I'm not trying to get your hopes up - but wait it out and be patient - I'll bet he'll be just fine. Love ya!
Austin did that too, about his age I think. I think he will grow out of it. I think his brain is just going faster than his little mouth can move! I was worried, but it all worked out, just let it pass. By the way good luck in 9 more days!!AHHHHH
My little boy will be just fine!!! What great, caring parents you are to be concerned though.
I just wanted to say Mitchell did this for a while, but he has stopped now! It wasn't for very long, and just recently, we think it was because he couldn't get the words out as fast as he was thinking them. He might still do it sometimes, but it has deffinately gotten less and less.
Bryan went through that too at about that age as well. It didn't last very long with him and he never does it anymore. He would just get so excited to say something that he would try and talk to fast? I hope that helps, good luck!
Well teri your little research is right and all the things that you are saying about the age, double language, and such are true factors. Also times they say that when kids feel they are experiencing a change in their life they may pick up on things like that. (The baby) It is something that he may grow out of and something that he will not. He may only do it for a period of time and then not do it again until he feels stress or something that may trigger it. I would say to not ignore it. Here at school our speech pathologist teaches our kids when they start to stutter to stop them in mid senetence and say okay your trying to tell me something and you need to slow down. We usually see success with that because it slows their brains down long enough to get out what they need. If not we correct them and have them listen to us ask the question the right way. You just make them feel like your helping not getting all over them for stuttering. I would say try that and give it some time. Also they say when you stop the kid in mid sentence you look directly at them and give them your full attention requiring them to give you theirs in return. Try it and see if it helps. We sure think it does!
I would look into it my son's friend did the same thing around age 3 1/2 and went to a speech therapist and headstart preschool and now he is fine! You can never be too careful and its best to catch it when they are young. Speech therapists are really good at not making them feel like something is wrong with them (I went to a few sessions with my friend and her son!) You can call the school district and get it for free in some areas!
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