According to a speech therapist: >We usually wait a year after the onset of stuttering, before starting speech therapy. And when we start speech therapy we don't teach the child speech techniques or whatever, but we mainly focus on guiding the parents what to do and what not. We only start speech therapy earlier if there are so called risk factors. Risk factors are a family history of stuttering, rapidly increasing stuttering and parents who worry too much. But again we always focus mainly on guiding the parents when a child is younger than 8 years. At this moment you can help your child the best with the following things. > >Don't pay attention on her stuttering, don't comment on her stuttering, but also not on fluency, just listen to her stuttering or not, don't ask her to try it again if she stutters, don't tell her to slow down if she stutters, don't tell her to take a deep breath if she stutters, encourage her to speak as much as possible. It's very important that she doesn't get the feeling that stuttering is wrong or that she needs something to change. Don't ask her too much questions at the same moment, don't ask her too much open questions, but instead of this closed questions, slow down your own speech rate, decrease environmental stress ,which can be triggers for stuttering, don't respond too fast when she ask you or tell you something. When you respond too fast, she can get the feeling that she does need to respond fast also. > >And last but not least beware of your own facial expressions during moments that she stutters. Keep breathing yourself (many people who talk with people who stutter, stop breathing themselves and this will cause visible tension on your face). This last thing is very difficult, because it happens unconsciously, but it's very important because even very young children who stutter are able "to read faces " and can feel if their parents are worrying or not. > >Avoid speech therapy at all costs at the age of 5 years old. There is absolutely nothing a speech therapist can do to cure stuttering. Chances are great the stuttering will disappear naturally by the age of 6-7. If the stuttering becomes severe, to the point that the child is mentally affected (gets sad, angry, stops talking etc) consider a speech therapist with the right agenda. Don’t focus on the stuttering at all. Let the child stutter and feel like it’s not a problem.