Suggested Facts About Preventing Stuttering*
A
ballpark estimate of the probability of a child starting to stutter is
about 4 of every 100 children. Nearly 1/2 will recover within a year.
About 3/4 will recover by puberty. A few more may recover after
puberty. Clearly, the best chance of recovery is early childhood; the
earlier the better.
When
parents and
teachers
pay little attention to children
except when they stutter,
then stuttering becomes a primary tool for gaining attention
otherwise unavailable.
Perkins
maintains
that
the seeds of stuttering
are insecurity and its twin, shyness. [Do you
agree with this?]
Children
Are More Likely To Outgrow Stuttering
When They:
1.
Feel confident and
secure
2.
Are not affected by where they stutter
or with whom
3. Stutter
mainly when excited or have something important to say
4.
Can speak fast without
stuttering when talking to themselves
5.
Will compete with others
for attention.
Perkins’
Also Noted That Children Who Are More Likely To Stutter
1.
Have difficulty asserting themselves into conversations
2.
Have parents who pay more attention when they stutter
3.
Feel shy, timid and insecure
4.
Think of themselves as
stutterers
5.
Feel frustrated and
helpless when they stutter
6.
Avoid and substitute
words when they expect to stutter
7.
Feel hesitant to speak out
8.
Have (in order of importance) a mother, grandmother, sister,
aunt, father, grandfather,
brother or uncle who stuttered.
Interestingly,
there is one sentence in his book which Perkins says is a cardinal
rule for parents and teachers. The sentence reads:
"NEVER
TELL A CHILD WHO STUTTERS TO SLOW DOWN."
*Wm.
Perkins, Stuttering Prevented, 1992
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