disfluency/stuttering question about 10yo son

[sapientia]

Mods, I'm really not sure where this goes, sorry if it has to be moved.

My 10yo son has had a speech disfluency that wasn't severe enough that anyone recommended therapy (it was all 'wait it out' and 'here, read this website' type response.) Well it seemed to get better a few months ago then got worse again. I finally got into speech therapy with him and his eval is that he is very bright and ahead in words and stringing words together but has a severe disfluency in his speaking. So they recommended speech therapy twice a week. (still on a waiting list). Will therapy help at this age?

Are there any parents who have an older child with this speech disorder? I have read that there is a genetic component (my brother stuttered and while I don't stutter, I sometimes get hung up on words that won't just 'come out') and to be honest I am tired of hearing from family that I caused this because dh and I split up for awhile a few years ago then got back together.

I guess I just need some 'been there done that' type responses.

[SilverFish]

well, my kid isn't old enough to talk, but my husband stutters. he went to speech therapy as a child and in high school, but as an adult he still has significant issues with some sounds. it gets worse when he's tired and stressed, which in turn makes him more stressed, which makes the impediment worse and so on. it gets quite bad at times. he has some strategies to cope with it, but i personally think that going back to therapy now would be quite helpful, as i'm not sure how good the therapy he had last was. it does affect his daily life at times... it makes him nervous to have to meet new people (one of his worst sounds happens to be the first letter of his name) and it probably also affects his work life a bit.

sorry to paint a negative picture, but i guess my point is that approaching this delicately is going to be important. my husband is VERY resistant to going back to therapy, so i'm holding my tongue for now, but i think that his approach might be different if he viewed his speech impediment as something requiring maintenance, not as something to be fixed or just lived with. it's like doing physical therapy for a dislocated shoulder... you aren't going to be able to just fix the joint, and you can't just live with it constantly dislocating... you have to keep up with your exercises and therapy to keep the joint in good shape.

it's true that extra stress in your son's life isn't helping with his disfluency, but you didn't cause it! i wish i had some more helpful information. this is something we struggle with, and i'm not sure what to do about it myself, except for being as supportive and positive as i can.

[A&A]

My 13 yo. dd just finished speech therapy for a mild dysfluency. The speech therapist said that it would probably get worse, though, if we didn't address it now. She spent about 8 months in therapy (once a week) and is much, much better now.

So to answer your question, YES therapy helps at this age!! And no, you didn't cause it.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by sapientia

So they recommended speech therapy twice a week. (still on a waiting list). Will therapy help at this age?

Yes, I vote that it will help and that it's never too late. On the plus of having therapy when older, he understands what is going on so he can work harder and practice in between. He's more motivated.

The therapist will teach you how to help him too, so the impact will be even greater than the twice a week sessions.

I have read that there is a genetic component (my brother stuttered and while I don't stutter, I sometimes get hung up on words that won't just 'come out') and to be honest I am tired of hearing from family that I caused this because dh and I split up for awhile a few years ago then got back together.

s glad to hear that you and your DH are doing better.

According to some of my extended family members, we caused our DD's autism by homeschooling, so sometimes it's best to ignore nonsense other people say.

How much is stress a factor in this for you son? Would also working on stress management techniques be helpful in addition to working on speech directly?

[sapientia]

Thank you both!

One thing that made me feel better at the eval is that the speech pathologist said that he was amazingly at ease with his speech, that he didn't show secondary characteristics of stuttering-that he was calm, relaxed and patient with himself, which she thought was wonderful.

Glad to hear input!