Stuttering in Preschool Children What to do when a child often hesitates or repeats himself.
	As children develop and learn to talk, they may have non-fluent periods where they hesitate or repeat themselves. This may happen more often when they are tired, excited, or feel pressured to perform. If you are concerned about the severity of your child's disfluency, you can have your child assessed by a Speech-Language Pathologist to determine whether your child's hesitations and repetitions are normal non-fluency or stuttering.

DO:

1. Do remember that hesitations and repetitions are often part of normal speech and language development.
2. Do be patient and let your child have as much time as needed. Look at your child, pay attention and show that you are interested in what your child is saying, not how he is saying it.
3. Do spend some time playing and talking with your child alone every day
4. Speak slowly and clearly to your child and show him what to do rather than telling him to "slow down".
5. Respond naturally to your child's speech so as to show him that it is okay to be non-fluent.

DON'T:

1. Don't make your child aware that you are concerned about his speech.
2. Don't react negatively (e.g. do not say things like "slow down", "say it again" or shake your head). Don't ask too many questions, instead use comments or provide choices.
3. Don't fill in the words when your child is stuck, let him finish. Otherwise your child will not learn that he can talk for himself.
4. Don't make the child's or the family's schedule too busy. This may increase the feelings of time pressure.