How to treat stuttering in children?

When children are just beginning to learn to speak, it is inevitable that they will have some problems speaking. If parents scold their children at this time, it may cause the children to stutter. Some children are curious and imitate the stuttering of others, which may cause them to stutter themselves. When a child starts to stutter, he or she often has a great psychological burden. So, what should you do if you want to treat your child's stuttering?

1. Treat it normally. If you are nervous, it will show in the tone and intonation of your voice. The child will be hinted at and will also become nervous, and his speech will become even less fluent.

2. Never make fun of, express disgust, threaten, or even hit or scold someone.

3. Don’t discuss his stuttering with others when he is around, and don’t imitate his stuttering, otherwise it will make it worse.

4. Speak to him slowly and pronounce each word clearly. At the same time, ask him to speak slowly and don't be in a hurry. However, when he speaks with some prolonged sounds or repetitions, just listen and don't repeat yourself. Wait for him to finish speaking, and then ask him to say it again after a while. With the experience of the first time, you will be able to say the same sentence much better the second time.

5. Let your child sing before speaking. This is the method of correcting stuttering advocated by Dr. Jushichiro Naito, the Japanese god of childcare. After the child starts to speak stutteringly, say to him: "Come on, let's sing that song!" and start singing with the child (the mother and child can sing together). It doesn't matter what you sing, as long as he is familiar with it. After singing, gently ask him: "What did you want to say just now?" At this time, in most cases, the child will not stutter and will speak fluently. Dr. Naito also said that this method had been tried on many children with very good results. Once children have the experience of speaking without stuttering, they will gain confidence in speaking, and after repeated practice, they can be cured.

When treating children's stuttering, parents' encouragement and support are the best treatment. When the child makes a little progress, praise him/her generously. This will greatly increase his/her confidence in speaking normally and give him/her the motivation to persist in correction. In this way, the correction of the child's stuttering will be twice as effective with half the effort.