Several warning signs suggest a child may be stuttering. First, a family
history of stuttering
is significant. Recent research has isolated a gene that may be responsible
for some cases
of stuttering. Second, studies have shown that 86 percent of children
who stutter have a
history of otitis media. Although the research is not conclusive, it
has been shown that
many children who stutter also suffer from allergies. Because of the
impact of allergies on
breathing patterns, these children experience greater speech impediments
during the
allergy season, and stuttering gets worse when the child's allergies
are more problematic.
Another indicator for stuttering is a child's noted difficulty in initiating
words. This is called
a block. Blocks are often accompanied by tension or tremors around
the oral
musculature and are generally not observed in children experiencing
normal disfluencies
Other stuttering characteristics include pitch rise or a change in
loudness when a sound is
prolonged, moments of fear and avoidance. These are all strong indicators
that the child is
stuttering and not going through a normal phase of disfluency. In addition,
these behaviors
seriously disturb the flow of speech and significantly affect communication.
Multiple
repetitions; the interjection of sounds, syllables, or words, such
as "er" or "um;" the use of
the schwa vowel; and prolongations are often seen in both groups. However,
they tend to
occur with a greater frequency in stutterers.
Outcome studies on populations of children with speech disorders are
not available.
Nevertheless, research has shown that early identification and intervention
is quite
effective and leads to favorable outcomes. If a child has the the above
cited risk factors a
nd speech patterns, a referral to a speech/language pathologist for
an evaluation would be
appropriate. Source: Medical Capsule by Gregory N. Larkin, M.D.
Sreenivasarao Veapchedu, 06/26/98
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