postr/StutterMay 30, 2023

7 year old stutters and now suddenly his 5 year old brother is stuttering the exact same

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7 year old stutters and now suddenly his 5 year old brother is stuttering the exact same I don’t know who else to turn to or who else to talk to, so hopefully your expertise can guide me. My oldest started stuttering at 3.5. His pediatrician waved it off as normal speech disfluency. I brought it up every six months from then to age 6 at pediatric appointments. Wait and see was the motto. 2020 happened we didn’t actually talk to or see his pediatrician till 2021 (and it was a new one since she had left). Meanwhile our charter school would pay for an assessment in kindergarten. We started speech therapy at age 5 and his speech therapist ignored the stutter for an entire year, me bringing it up politely each appointment. Our particular school district would only allow monthly speech therapy appointments. She instead wanted to focus on a lisp. Finally after a year (he is now 6) she said, “There is not much you can do about this. It’s like an alcoholic, once one, always one.” I was APPALLED. So was our main contact teacher, and she suggested we do online speech as an alternative with a different speech therapist. Now, after a year of working with him, she says never hears him stutter. Turns out as a smarty pants, he gives her short answers in therapy, and avoided stuttering much in their half an hour appointment. I started recording him and sending it to her and she instantly recognized he does indeed have a moderate stutter when he’s not paying attention. Now his 5 year old brother is stuttering (having never shown ONE sign of it for 5.5 years) in actually the same form and fashion as his brother, repeating phrasing and sounds down to the very same sound. I am feeling desperate. I just read online there is not much hope of a cure after age 7 (my kids age). What can we do? Would seeking ANOTHER speech therapist help? I can not say he’s made one bit of progress. Why is my 5 year old stuttering now? They are homeschooled (with the support of a public charter school that pays for therapy) and they talk to each other most of the day is the only thing I can think.

Themes

Causes & VariabilityParent & CaregiverSpeech & Stuttering

Subthemes

Cycles & RandomnessEarly Concern & OnsetTreatment DecisionsHome SupportBlocks & StoppagesRepetitions & Prolongations