postr/StutterSeptember 26, 2025

I think my 10 year old has a stutter and Im not sure what to do

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Content

I think my 10 year old has a stutter and Im not sure what to do Im going to be honest. I’ve noticed my son was stuttering maybe for a year or so, but I didn’t think anything of it because he was still young. Sometimes I even thought he was faking. I think because of past trauma and separation anxiety (please don’t judge, he’s a very happy child!) he used to talk in a singsong baby voice, because it made him feel safer when speaking to me, so I thought the stuttering was similar to that. I also chopped it to nervousness and still developing his vocabulary. And he did it less than half the time he speaks. And he never stutters when upset or serious or frustrated. I give him space to feel and work out his emotions on his own, so when he’s expressing them to me, he’s actually very articulate and there’s rarely any stutter ever. But in casual conversations, he’ll stutter when asking a question mostly or just telling me about his day. What finally caught my attention about it though, was when he was asking if he and his little cousin could watch a movie last night. He was stuck on “Can we…” and couldn’t get the rest of the sentence out. He then gave up on the question completely, and said exasperated “Why do I keep stuttering?” I told him to take a deep breath and try again. He did, was still stuck on “Can we…” for a few seconds but got the question out right after. Is that how stuttering even works? Can you be stuck on a word or phrase and immediately jump into another one? (Please forgive my ignorance!) Later on that night he goes to ask another question, gets stuck on a few words, I hear him stop and take a deep breath, following my advice from before, and then ask his question. Should I be concerned? Is this worth bringing up to his doctor? I just want to make sure he’s developing as he should, or if there’s underlying issue. Either emotional, developmental or otherwise.

Themes

Anticipation & AvoidanceCauses & VariabilityEmotional ExperienceSpeech & Stuttering

Subthemes

Feared Words & NamesAvoidance & SubstitutionOverthinking & MonitoringStress & Fight/FlightAnxiety & Social JudgmentRepetitions & Prolongations

Codes (2)

repeating_oneselfemotional_state