What Teachers Need to Know about Stuttering in Childhood

Do You Have a Student in Your Class That Stutters?

You may be wondering what stuttering in childhood all about and what you can do to support your student. While disfluency disorders affect a small number of students, they can be an obvious and significant factor in your student’s ability to communicate effectively in school.

So, exactly what is stuttering?

Stuttering is a disruption in the smooth flow of speech.  Most people stumble on sounds occasionally or repeat themselves once in a while. These typical disfluencies are different from stuttering.

A person who stutters may:

• repeat a word or part of a word
• interject pauses or sounds like “um,” or
• stretch out a sound.
• experience “blocks” where they can’t speak at all for a time. Their muscles may appear tense, and they may have an open mouth or tightly pressed lips, but no sound comes out.

There is a lot of variability in stuttering. A person who stutters may not stutter at the same rate or in the same way all the time, and stuttering may appear different in different speaking situations.

Stuttering Facts and Myths

How common is stuttering and when does it typically start?

• Stuttering in childhood usually begins by the age of four
• Some children experience brief periods of developmental stuttering that resolves; others stutter throughout their lifetime.
• When stuttering begins before the age of three, 75-80%  of children will outgrow it.
• Girls are more likely to outgrow stuttering than boys
• Stuttering affects 3-4 times more boys than girls in elementary school.

What Causes Stuttering?

The short answer is that we don’t exactly know. We do know that:

• Stuttering can run in families, so there’s likely a genetic component for some people
• Stuttering is not caused by simple physical differences
• Stuttering may be related to neurological differences. Children with other speech and language or developmental delays may be more likely to stutter.
• Stuttering is not caused by parents.
• Stuttering is not caused by stress or anxiety. However, when a person who stutters is anxious, stuttering may increase.
• Stuttering is not caused by a bad experience or scaring a child.

My grandfather stuttered, and his family was convinced it was because he was chased by a snake as a child. Not true. Was there really a snake? I don’t know, but a scare didn’t cause his stuttering.

How Can Stuttering Affect a Child at School?

How a student reacts to his or her stuttering can greatly affect their self-confidence and participation in school.

Older children may feel embarrassed or ashamed about their speech, and anxious about how others will react to their stuttering. This can lead to anxiety and avoidance of certain speaking or social situations.

I’ve had teachers tell me that they rarely heard their student stutter. But then, the student was quiet and rarely spoke up in class. This student was avoiding speaking so he wouldn’t stutter in class.

Some very young students who stutter may appear to take little notice of their stuttering and join in conversations easily.

As self-awareness increases, students who stutter may:

1. avoid speaking in certain situations
2. change what they want to say
3. act like they don’t know the answer to avoid having to speak and risk stuttering
4. avoid or be excluded from joining in activities with other children
5. be the targets of bullying due to their stuttering

Examples of speaking situations that may be more stressful if a child fears they may stutter:

1. telling the cafeteria staff what they want to eat
2. asking for help
3. oral reports
4. math problems in front of the class
5. reading aloud
6. cooperative group activities
7. timed reading fluency tests
8. asking other students if they can join them

What Can Teachers Do to Help?

Teachers can play an important role in helping a child who stutters participate in school and gain confidence in themselves as a communicator and a student.

I highly encourage you to contact your campus speech-language pathologist and ask any questions you may have about stuttering in childhood and your students. Your SLP can discuss your specific student with you and may offer some great tips and suggestions for the classroom.

Reduce speaking and time pressure. Stuttering can vary. A person who stutters will often be more disfluent in speaking situations in which they are less comfortable and more fluent when relaxed and confident.

Dos and don’ts for the classroom

There are several things you can do to make your student who stutters more comfortable and willing to participate in class.

Please do:

1. Establish speaking rules for all students. No interrupting. No answering for others. No hurrying or acting annoyed. No pressure.
2. Allow extra time for responses. No rush. Everyone gets all the time they need to answer a question or speak in class.
3. Model a relaxed, unhurried tone and pace of speech. Model pausing and thinking time. This is wonderful for all children that need a bit of extra time to formulate their thoughts.
4. Show your students that it’s what they say that interests you, not how they say it. Praise their great thoughts and ideas.
5. Talk matter-of-factly to your student about stuttering in private about what helps them. Don’t let the fact that they stutter be the elephant in the room. You might say, “I notice you stutter sometimes. I’ll give you plenty of time to talk when you answer questions in class. Is there anything else you like people to do or not do when you are talking?” Older students may give you some great insights.
6. Call on your student who stutters early in a discussion. They won’t have to stress while waiting and dread their turn. You may ask them a question with a shorter, rather than a lengthy, answer.
7. Allow your student to participate in all classroom events. They want to be like everybody else.
8. Share with other educators who work with your student. Most people welcome knowing more about how they can help.

Please don’t:

1. Don’t give advice to slow down, take a breath, stop, or start over. Your student is already aware of his or her stuttering. Don’t allow other students to do it either. This increases the pressure to speak and therefore, can actually increase the stuttering. Please give them the gift of time. Wait for it.
2. Don’t look away when your student speaks. Give good eye contact.
3. Don’t tolerate teasing or mimicking. Ever. That of course, goes for all children. Be watchful and intervene if this is going on.
4. Don’t finish what they are saying or fill in the blank when they are stuck.
5. Don’t pressure your student to use speech strategies. Let them know stuttering is okay!

It’s a great idea to post your expectations for classroom discussions. I created a free Talking Rules Poster for you. Download it at Speech Sprouts on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Bullying and Stuttering

Studies show that children who stutter are at a higher risk of being bullied than other children.

Children who stutter are uniquely affected by bullying because it can be difficult for them to respond to the comments of bullies.

Dr. J. Scott Yaruss

Read more about how you can help in this guest post: Children Who Stutter and Bullying – 6 Ways You Can Help by Dr. J. Scott Yaruss, Ph.D, a leader in the field.

Looking for even more information about stuttering in childhood?

There’s a lot of information on the internet, but not all of it is accurate and up to date. Here are my recommendations for trustworthy tips and facts about stuttering.

These websites are great stuttering resources for teachers and SLPs:

• The Stuttering Foundation
• The American Speech Language Hearing Association
• Stuttering Home Page
• Stuttering Therapy Resources has free handouts and videos for parents and teachers as well as stuttering resources for SLPs.

SLPs, read learn more about assessment of stuttering and stuttering therapy in these posts:

• 3 Insights That Changed the Way I Assess and Treat Stuttering
• The Oasis Stuttering Test – How to Capture More Than Disfluencies

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about stuttering!