Some say that stuttering between the ages of 2 and 5 is normal. Furthermore, this type of stuttering can only be called developmental stuttering, where children are still showing their speech patterns and abilities. In fact, the child is said to outgrow this type of stuttering after 6 months or even less. But what about stuttering situations in children that last longer than six, months, or even years? Once persistent stuttering is detected, it is best to act quickly. The best thing to do in this situation is to hire a speech-language pathologist or speech therapist who is equipped and knowledgeable on how to stop stuttering in children.
When it comes to dealing with children, the most important thing is to relate to the child in a way that is not intrusive. Professional speech therapists know how to stop stuttering in children and at the same time they know how to make children feel comfortable. Effective therapists will not follow a young child and recite words to teach him in a professional way. Instead, it will make the child comfortable playing with it and warming up before starting therapy. The therapy can be said to have the characteristics of play to attract children to open up and respond to the lessons.
For example, speech therapists today will try to talk to children while emphasizing some words, which in turn causes children to imitate. Also the most common way to teach and at the same time play with children during speech therapy is to play different types of games. One game is called Flash Picture Game: in the game, the therapist will show a card with a picture. For example, a picture of a car: the picture has no label, but the card indicates the syllable that the child has difficulty pronouncing, and for this example it could be the syllable “Ca. In this way, the child can practice his mind without being dictated and at the same time you will not have problems with the answers because there is a clue.
This is an example of a motivating, educational, and fun way to stop stuttering in children. By practicing daily therapy and monitoring, problem areas will improve, and at the same time, therapy will not be a boring activity that children avoid.