How to support children with a stammer and other speech disorders

Growing up with speech and language difficulties can be incredibly challenging for young children, despite it being a common issue - particularly in the early years. One person who could relate to the challenges of having a severe speech impediment was the late James Earl Jones, whose death at the age of 93 was confirmed on Monday.

Jones is best known for being the iconic voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and Mufasa, the father of Simba in The Lion King. His distinctive, deep and gravelly voice was instantly recognisable for millions of people. But, Jones’s path to voice stardom was anything but smooth, as he struggled with a severe stutter as a child.

The revered actor was so ashamed of his speech impediment that he was nearly mute for nearly eight years.

"I was mute from first grade through freshman year in high school," he said in one interview. "Mute because I just gave up on talking. I can’t cut it."

During another interview, this time with the Daily Mail, he recalled: "Stuttering is painful. In Sunday school, I’d try to read my lessons and the children behind me were falling on the floor with laughter… By the time I got to school, my stuttering was so bad that I gave up trying to speak properly."

It was thanks to a school teacher that Jones was able to regain his voice - and, as a result, become one of the most revered voices in the film industry. His English teacher found that Jones was able to read poetry he wrote himself without stuttering and encouraged him to continue reading it out loud.

Speech impediments like stuttering and stammering have affected many other celebrities too, including Pop Idol winner Gareth Gates, who went on to become a stammering coach, as well as the King of Pop himself, Elvis Presley, Ed Sheeran, Mel B of Spice Girls, Bruce Willis, Marilyn Monroe, Rowan Atkinson, and more.

For parents of children who have speech difficulties, it can be incredibly hard to see your child struggle. But there are many ways you can support your child and get help for them, starting with recognising the first signs of a speech disorder.

Common speech disorders in children

As children learn how to talk, they go through several stages of speech and language development. Signs of speech difficulties usually arise between the ages of two to five, according to national stammering charity Stamma, but stammering can occur either gradually or all of a sudden at a later age too.

Stammering is a common speech difficulty, with around 8% of children or one in every 12, starting to stammer at some point. Some stammering behaviours including repeating sounds or words, stretching or prolonging sounds, and having silent blocks where a sound get stuck.

For most children, stammering is temporary and can pass either naturally or with support from speech and language therapy. Some children will continue stammering into adulthood, and it can change over time.

Other common speech disorders include:

• Lisp: An articulation difficulty caused by the mispronunciation of ‘s’ and ‘z’ sounds

• Speech sound disorder: Difficulty articulating sounds and using correct phonological processes

• Dysarthia: Difficulty articulating a message using muscles of speech

• Developmental Language Disorder (DLD): Lifelong difficulties with talking and understanding words.

How can I support my child who is having speech trouble?

If your child has started showing signs of difficulty with talking, particularly with stammering or stuttering, it’s natural to feel uncertain about what this might mean for their future. But Kirsten Howells, Deputy CEO and Services Director of Stamma, says it’s important to focus on the moment.

"We speak to lots of parents who are in tears when their child starts stammering, and a lot of the time it’s because parents are worried about the future and things like bullying, relationships, job interviews… but they’re forgetting about the little person who’s right in front of them, right now," she tells Yahoo UK.

"The most useful thing you can do is let that little person know that you’re interested in what they’ve got to say. We want for these children to grow up and be confident communicators, and we want to help parents understand that stammering doesn’t determine whether you’re a good or bad communication, it’s just a part of that."

Some of the ways parents can support their children in conversations include:

Fake it till you make it

Howells says: "It’s alright to fake it till you make it. As a parent, you might feel uncomfortable watching your child stammering, and that doesn’t make you a bad person or a bad parent.

"But what’s not necessarily helpful is for your child to know that you are uncomfortable. They may accidentally absorb the message that it’s better if they don’t stammer or if they don’t speak at all, and that’s not what we want for them.

"Feeling uncomfortable is normal, but you need to think about the message your child is getting from your reaction and how you can make them feel safe and welcome to stammer. If you didn’t understand what they said, you could respond with: “Would you say that again please? I missed it and I really want to hear it."

Talk about stammering

Bringing up the topic of stammering can make parents feel uncomfortable, whether they feel like it will somehow make things worse or that they shouldn’t mention it.

However, Howells says that by not talking about it at all, children may interpret it as something so bad that it cannot be talked about and they aren’t able to bring it up either.

"Some useful techniques could be to encourage your child if they have a moment of stammering, perhaps say, ‘Oh, that was a tricky word to say, I’m glad you kept going though!’ Sometimes your child isn’t bothered by it and will just carry on, but if it’s something they are worried about, you’ve just opened the door for that conversation to happen."

She adds: "Acknowledging it openly can also help you understand whether your child is worried about it or not, and that can be really, really helpful in seeing whether you should take any further steps or if they are happy and confident to carry on the way they are."

Watch videos about stammering with them

Stammering is much more common than many people realise, and there are many videos and other resources you can turn to to show your child that they aren’t alone.

Howells recommends YouTube videos that can help bring the conversation into your home. She also recommends an app for parents called Penguin, which guides parents whose young children have just started to stammer on how they can talk about it.

"If you think your child is really withdrawing and this is a really painful topic, then you may want to seek more help and consider workshops or a speech and language therapist to get tailored support for your child," Howells says.

If you are a parent seeking support for your child, you can visit Stamma to start a webchat or call the helpline free on 0808 802 0002.

Read more about parenting:

• Which vitamins and minerals do children need? (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)

• How to treat back-to-school bugs (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)

• Surge in food allergies sparks call for better GP training (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)