Symptoms

Early Signs of Stuttering

For most children, the first signs of stuttering occur around 18-24 months when the child is first learning to put words together to form sentences. Although stuttering during this time is natural, many parents begin to assume that their child will never recover from this speech disorder. Before reaching the age of 5, most children will no longer have stuttering problems.

If the child’s stuttering becomes more frequent and their speech appears to be getting worst, then it might be possible that this child may be a stutterer.

Most common signs/behaviors of a child who stutters include:

• Words sound longer than they should be.
• Child finds it hard to start a new word.
• Words or parts of words are repeated.
• Child may become tense when trying to speak.
• Rapid eye blinking.
• Trembling of lips and jaw when struggling to say a word.

These common behaviors can be increased when a child is put in a stressful or uncomfortable situation. Some children who stutter add interjections (“uh”, “um”, etc.) in their pauses in-between words. Often, children will avoid difficult words and will speak in incomplete sentences.