[mammagee]

My 2.5 y/o has developed a stutter which has become increasinly a concern over the last 6 months.

I am looking for a recommendation for a speech patholgist is Brisbane (nth west pref), preferrably someone with paed exp with early onset stuttering.

Any advice regarding this issue would be gratefully received!


Cheers J

[lsolaBella]

If google searching for a practice, find one which uses the Lidcombe method for stuttering. Generally it should be used as it is a method developed out of a sydney Uni and exported to the world.

[LifesGood]

Just be aware that a stutter is very common in children when they are learning to speak. It doesn't necessarily mean they will continue to have a stutter.

I know this because DD developed a stutter not long after she had learned to talk fluently and it was heartbreaking. When I came to EB looking for advice I heard lots of similar tales. Eventually she grew out of it without any therapy. We were just advised not to rush her and not to draw attention to her stutter.

Good luck.

[thelms]

Just be aware that a stutter is very common in children when they are learning to speak. It doesn't necessarily mean they will continue to have a stutter.

I know this because DD developed a stutter not long after she had learned to talk fluently and it was heartbreaking. When I came to EB looking for advice I heard lots of similar tales. Eventually she grew out of it without any therapy. We were just advised not to rush her and not to draw attention to her stutter.

Good luck.

Agree with this. Both mine did this for 3-6 months and grew out of it. It is very common. I booked an appointment for my DD (being my first child) and by the time we could get an appointment she was no longer stuttering.

[bertbub]

My DD went through a stage of this too. I mentioned it to the GP once when there for another reason and the GP proceeded to ask my DD a series of questions. She didn't stutter once! The GP said it was because my DD was taking time to think of a response to each question. The stuttering was when she was telling me something and was so excited that her brain was working faster than her mouth. Eventually the mouth managed to keep up with the brain

[liveworkplay]

Just be aware that a stutter is very common in children when they are learning to speak. It doesn't necessarily mean they will continue to have a stutter.

This is true BUT I would get it assessed as, if it is a true stutter (which the SP will be able to assess) them early intervention is vital. If true stutters are treated before school aged, the methods used today can completely "cure" the stutter in most cases. If left to school age, the best for the majority of cases is management of the condition.

My DH stutters, but you would never guess as he has learned many techniques to cover for it. He wasn't treated until he was in primary school. DD2 was diagnosed with a true stutter at 2.5. She was advanced in speech and comprehension, so she had been speaking fluently for a while by then. She was so bad she could not even get out a sentence most of the time. With lots of work, it completely disappeared.

Stuttering also has a hereditary component, hence why we were very concerned with DD2 when she started.

This post has been edited by liveworkplay: 09/02/2013, 06:09 PM

[tiredtoo]

My daughter is currently seeing a speech therapist using the lidcombe method for her stuttering and is making great progress. She has been seeing the speech therapist for check ups from the age of 2 due to late speech. The speech therapist was only concerned when she still had the stutter at 4 years old for over 6 months as stutters generally resolve themselves by the age of 4. So I would not be concerned about a 2.5 year old stuttering. Although if you are concerned about your childs speech putting your name down on the waiting list for the public speech therapist now is a good idea as by the age of 3 the waiting lists are around 2 years. (This is in NSW not sure about Brisbane)

[lifehacker]

This is true BUT I would get it assessed as, if it is a true stutter (which the SP will be able to assess) them early intervention is vital. If true stutters are treated before school aged, the methods used today can completely "cure" the stutter in most cases. If left to school age, the best for the majority of cases is management of the condition.

My DH stutters, but you would never guess as he has learned many techniques to cover for it. He wasn't treated until he was in primary school. DD2 was diagnosed with a true stutter at 2.5. She was advanced in speech and comprehension, so she had been speaking fluently for a while by then. She was so bad she could not even get out a sentence most of the time. With lots of work, it completely disappeared.

Stuttering also has a hereditary component, hence why we were very concerned with DD2 when she started.

Was just going to say this. Ds has a true stutter also and has been stuttering for well over a year, it's very pronounced and occurs every 2-3 words. All the assessments he had showed he was ahead in comprehension (at 4 yr old level). He has a few other speech issues as well. He is having speech path now and they told me they couldn't say enough how good it was that we looked into it now rather than later. They expect he'll need therapy for it til he starts school. He's just turned 3. So it is very important to get it checked even if it turns out to be a developmental thing.
No recommendations since we are in Adelaide going through Womens and Childrens hospital.
Goodluck