To talk li-li-like this is a normal hesitation for young speakers. To-to-to talk like like like this is normal, too. Wh-wh-when th-th-ey t-t-talk li-li-like th-th-is, it's considered stuttering.
Most toddlers stutter because their thoughts are moving faster than their tongues, mouths, and cheeks. The great river of words rushes from their brains and crashes into those giant dams, their tongues, so only a slow trickle emerges from their mouths. When they become adept at coordinating the two, the stuttering will go away. In the meantime, their struggle to get the words out can be observed in the tension in their facial muscles.
The key to curing stuttering is to eliminate the child's need to get the words out fast. To this end, you must be patient in order to help your child relax. Yelling at a child to “slow down” certainly doesn't promote relaxation! Instead, it increases the rush of thoughts in the child's mind because in addition to the words he wants to say, he now must think about slowing down.
Discussing how the child is speaking while the child is trying to speak also makes the stuttering worse. Children naturally mimic their parents and copy their speech patterns, so an effective way to get them to slow down is to slow your own rate of speech to a snail's pace. If toddlers have a hard time getting a word in edgewise in a family of talkative extroverts, they may feel pressured to talk faster, so it's important to dedicate more time to uninterrupted listening.
The majority of sufferers — 60 percent — eventually overcome stuttering without help from professional speech therapists. To help the process along, keep these tips in mind:
Don't call attention to stuttering.
Don't interrupt, even to help finish a sentence.
Don't allow siblings to interrupt, tease, mimic, or comment about the stuttering.
Serve as a model by slowing your own speech to the speed of TV's Mr. Rogers.
Spend some undivided time each day talking a little and listening a lot.
If your child is frustrated or upset about stuttering, provide reassurance: “I can understand you, and that's all that matters.”
Don't criticize what your child says or how it is said. Fear of being criticized increases anxiety, which increases stuttering.
If the stuttering persists more than a few months or other speech problems develop, consult your pediatrician.
It is common for tykes to talk to themselves when they are playing, falling asleep, or lying awake in bed in the morning. Don't discourage them; they are practicing their language skills! Once they've got all the mouth movements down pat and have matured, they'll be able to think their words without getting on your nerves by saying them.
