Why does my 4.3 years old son find it difficult to speak fluently?

Question

Hello doctor,

My son is 4.3 years old. He sometimes finds it difficult to speak fluently, especially in the beginning of a sentence and when he is excited. Most of the time he speaks the entire sentence very clearly, without any difficulty. I am attaching his audio and video recording clips. What is the treatment to overcome this problem?

Answer 1

Hi,

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I have heard the attached voice recordings (attachment removed to protect patient privacy). The child is stammering. His pronunciation is fine, but the problem is with fluency. It can be due to anxiety. The child might be afraid of performance. There can be psychological causes like he might not be able to perform in front of his teacher or might be afraid of teacher or parents. Try to calm the child and do not point when he stammers. Let him complete his sentence. Treatment is speech therapy which you can do at home or even can visit a speech therapist. At home, make the child read a book and repeat the things. You can ask him to sing; applause is a must for every good effort. You can ask the child to repeat whatever you say. Try playing with tongue twisters. The child does not seem to have any tongue tie from the video (attachment removed to protect patient identity), but if you have any doubts, please visit an ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doctor for proper examination. The child is still very young, so do not worry because this is the time when he will develop a refined speech.