STUTTERING IN YOUNG CHILDREN Tips parents need to know. by LORI MELNITSKY, MA, CCC-SLP posted in CHILD DEVELOPMENT Isn’t it wonderful that some of our best learning stems from personal experiences? Many years ago, my 2½-year-old daughter came home from a sleepover at her grandparent’s house. She was repeating whole words and phrases. Additionally, she was prolonging sounds in words (“ssssssand”) and seemingly unaware of how she sounded. As a speech/language pathologist who stutters, I knew that many children experience stuttering or disfluencies at an early age. Still, as any parent would be, I was concerned and worried. Many questions had to be answered. I admit, my gut reaction was to say all the wrong things to my daughter that I had heard early in my childhood, such as “slow down,” “breathe,” “say the words over” and “don’t be nervous.” However, I knew these suggestions, though all well-intended, were more harmful than helpful. […]