Can you help me with my daughter she is 17 and is very sociable but in the last few months she seems to have developed a stammer. I don’t know how this can happen when she never had a problem before. I have mentioned it to her in passing but she is obviously very conscious about it.
Isn't she a little old for this? How should I help her?
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You are correct in thinking that stammering typically occurs in childhood. The medical term for stammering is dysfluency. The development of a stammer at this age typically occurs for only a few reasons: neurological illness or injury (you can probably rule that out straight away), trauma (this can include bereavement), stress (such as exam pressure, bullying, family difficulty) or what is called an idiopathic stammer (no known cause).
Stress related stammering used to be called neurotic stammering. We do not typically use that sort of terminology any longer, however. You need to think about what has recently occurred in your daughter's life or what is soon to occur. Is she sitting her Leaving Cert soon? Was there a death in the family? Is she having social difficulties, including a relationship break-up?
Stammering of the sort you describe is usually time-limited and goes away in weeks or months. If it persists you need to contact a speech & language therapist and your GP. Do not draw attention to the stammer. Help her to learn a breathing exercise to help her relax. Monitor the situation and proceed slowly. It may just disappear. If not, you need to seek professional assistance.
Every week on Moncrieff, David Carey, a psychologist with over 25 years experience in both clinical and educational settings, answers your parenting questions. Tune in live today at 3pm, or listen back to the podcasts of the show.
