SPEECH AND
LANGUAGE NEWS
January 2008
LISTEN TO YOUR BUDS!
The
American Speech-Language Hearing Association has developed an important new
tool to promote consumer awareness about the potential risk of hearing loss
from unsafe usage of personal audio technology. That tool is an interesting, fun, and helpful website, www.listentoyourbuds.org. It
features an interactive game for kids ages 6 to 12, information for parents and
resources for educators.
STUTTERING*
Many
parents become concerned when they observe their child hesitating or repeating
syllable, words or phrases. Is
this a stuttering problem or is the child simply going through a period of
normal disfluency that most children experience as they learn to speak?
The
normal disfluent child occasionally repeats syllable or words once or
twice. These disfluencies occur
most often between ages one/one-half and five years old and they tend to come
and go. Usually these are signs
that your child is learning to use language in new ways.
If your child repeats sounds more than twice, shows
tension and struggle to speak then these may be signs of stuttering.
The disfluencies may come and go but are now present more often than
absent. In this case, further
evaluation by a speech and language pathologist may be indicated.
Seven
tips for talking with your child
1. Speak
with your child in an unhurried way, pausing frequently.
2. Reduce
the number of questions you ask your child.
3. Use your facial expressions and other
body language to convey to your child that you are listening to the content of
the message and not how sh/e are talking.
4. Set
aside a few minutes at a regular time each day when you can give your undivided
attention to your child.
5. Help all
members of the family learn to take turns talking and listening.
6. Observe
the way you interact with your child.
Try to decrease criticisms, rapid speech patterns, interruptions and
questions.
7. Above
all, convey that you accept your child as he is.
*Taken from If You
Think Your Child Is Stuttering…compiled by Dr. Barry Guitar and Dr. Edward
Conture. Published by the
Stuttering Foundation of America at www.stutteringhelp.org