Portal Mucanje was founded in 2010, and during that time we have received a huge amount of e-mail and messages on our Facebook page. We cannot, of course, convey all the messages and share them here with you, because it would be a book of its own. What we can do is share the most common questions and answers that we receive on the Portal, as well as the problems that stutterers, parents, etc. are most often faced with.
In short, I can write that (roughly) the following questions are the most frequent:
- How to reduce or completely eliminate stuttering?
- My child started stuttering. What should I do?
- I have no desire for anything. I can't do anything because of the stuttering and everything is getting on my nerves. What to do?
- Information and questions related to the Valmod program.
- Other questions related to stuttering, such as why he or she doesn't stutter when singing, why stuttering gets worse when the weather changes (sometimes) and similar things.
These are all questions that I (we) approach individually, depending on the way the question is asked. Sometimes you can clearly see from the question that the person is already on the edge and that they urgently need some of that positive energy towards them by telling them that everything can and should be fine. Sometimes, unfortunately, we recommend going to a psychologist because there is no shame in that. Everyone sometimes needs someone in their life to confide in, to whom they can tell everything that is bothering them deep down, and don't hesitate to do so.
Sometimes it is enough to just answer the questions because it is clear that there is not too much concern, but again, the person would like to know how to improve their speech even more.
The messages we would like to see more often are positive messages. Success. Big or small. Any success. Such messages only encourage me (us) to engage even more and to understand how our advice was taken or that we at least encouraged someone to go that way.
Therefore, please, when you overcome negative thoughts and move towards the correct, positive direction, do not forget us, send us a message or an e-mail in which you will let us know that there was an advice there a year or two ago that managed to reach You or just confirmed what you always thought - stuttering can only be overcome if you overcome your approach to it. Such messages are most worth spreading and publishing.
Below are the questions and answers, as they were written:
Dear Madam or Sir,
I am a Master of Pharmacy by profession and I need to start working. Now the stuttering is back, probably from the fear of having to talk to people in the pharmacy every day. By the way, I stuttered as a little girl and with exercises I learned to control it. I don't stutter in normal, relaxing situations, now it's gotten worse from thinking too much about how I won't be able to control myself and my thoughts. Can exercises help?
Greetings,
It is very difficult to give a "good" answer to a question like this, because I myself stutter all my life, so I know very well that no one can comfort me when I feel "down" :)
What I can tell you is that I have read a lot of books, been to all possible therapies and they taught me a lot of things, but also one very, very important one, which is that - I will never stop stuttering... There are a lot of speech and other techniques that can help in talking, but none of them completely solves stuttering because it is always there somewhere in our subconscious and patiently waits for every opportunity when we are consumed with fear.
The best book and techniques I have read and highly recommend is the book “Stuttering & Anxiety Self-Cures” by Lee G Lovett. It is an amazing book that shows and explains in detail the techniques on how to overcome stuttering and yourself from this fear. Reading this book, I realized that all modern therapies actually have the same principle and technique in suppressing stuttering, and this man came up with it way before everyone else.
What I can say for sure and give you advice (from one person who stutters to another) is that when you accept stuttering as a part of you and come to terms with it, i.e. embrace it as your trait, it will drastically decrease, believe it or not. I have been practicing such a positive approach for 15 years and my stuttering has decreased, my fear of speaking has disappeared. To this day, I still stutter and have phases when I can't put two sane sentences together, but the most important thing is that I'm not depressed and I don't think about how difficult it is for me and that I can't perform basic actions, but I look at it as if I was having a bad day just like when you wake up with a headache and expect it to pass and - it passes.
Whenever I find myself in a situation where I want to improve my speaking, I open the book I mentioned and start reading it from the beginning. Alone, out loud, focused on the content. While reading the book, you start to think about the movements of the lips, articulation, and breathing so much that you simply calm down and start speaking better in everyday life. And if you even manage to actually apply the techniques described in the book, it will be very, very good.
Greetings,
I have a son who is 3 years and 4 months old. 3-4 days ago, he first started saying his sister's name Sssssarah, we thought he was joking and warned him to speak correctly. On Saturday, he started repeating syllables like pa-pa-pa-paprika. Yesterday and the day before yesterday, he started stretching out the first letter of a word and with his eyes closed he utters, for example, Hhhhhhhow, ggggggrandpa... I'm asking for advice. Is it alarming, should we go to the neuropediatrician immediately or should we wait a little longer? Otherwise, he is in the phase of making long sentences, so far he has been great at speaking. We believe that he did not experience any major shock.
Thank you in advance!
Greetings,
It is possible that it is a case of physiological stuttering that comes due to an increased vocabulary and passes over a certain period of time, but I am always a supporter of going to an expert/speech therapist who can assess it better.
Personally, I would perhaps wait another day or two and monitor the development of the speech, and in the meantime, do not warn him about the speech, raise your voice or in any way let him know that it is something "bad". Don't finish his sentences, let him say everything he thought. I have heard of identical cases many times and it was always a temporary period, and you just have to be patient. Maybe through the game I would tell him some stories and activate him to finish the sentences with me (e.g. a guessing game - what is in the picture?) and pay attention to his pronunciation.
Nevertheless, if the speech remains the same for several days, go to a speech therapist (you will probably get a referral from your doctor) and listen to their advice.
If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me.
Good evening. I can't express how glad I am that a site like this exists.
My life story is full of ups and downs. I am 20 years old, I finished high school with this problem - stuttering. I am currently learning German in order to go abroad for a better life, but still with a great fear of speaking. I am interested in your experiences, techniques for reducing stuttering, etc.
Greetings,
I learned the technique in the Valmod program in Varaždin, however, I must not share it openly with the people because I would violate their terms and conditions.
What I can do, and I hope it will help, is to share the link where I explain the technique I apply when I'm in a stressful situation:
The key to everything, believe me, if you want to reduce stuttering - constant practice of speaking. The first month is the hardest and you need to invest the most time, but if you are hardworking and persistent, the results will come, and even when they do, never give up on practicing...
I can give you examples of exercises that are universal and can help you (you must do them daily):
- Read alone, slowly and expressively. Focus on the the mouth, lips and correct pronunciation of letters,
- Create a sentence before you start talking, form sentences so that there are no pauses - connect all sentences,
- Air, air and air. Never run out of air - always breathe from the stomach before starting to speak,
- When you master the above, you will have a clear vision of how you speak and you will be able to learn from your mistakes,
- You make and learn from mistakes by doing things you don't like :) talking in front of people, on the phone, whatever you need. When you find yourself in such situations, it is very important to focus on the way you speak. The goal of this is for you to make mistakes but also to learn what you did wrong. You will know exactly if it is due to the air, breathing, being hasty, etc.
This should certainly help. If you have any questions feel free to write to us again.
Greetings,
I am writing this to you as a concerned parent, hoping to get some answers to my questions. I have a 5-year-old son. At the age of three and a half, we noticed that he "pauses" when speaking, mostly at the beginning of sentences.
We sought help from the speech therapist at the Health Center, who told us that it was only a passing phase and that it would pass by itself and that we should contact them in six months. Guided by such an "unprofessional" answer, my wife and I (now we deeply regret it) still waited those six months, but the situation only got worse.
We went to the Health Center again, where they told us to come again in six months, which to us, even though we weren't professionals, was not logical at all. After all those unpleasant experiences, we decided to take our child to a private speech therapist, where he has been going for some time (twice a week for half an hour) and plus we practice with him for half an hour every day at home.
The exercises mainly consist of: pronouncing the vowels "on the breath", singing songs at a slow pace, coloring with the pronunciation, also at a slow pace, repeating after us, etc. Now, I'm interested in how much these exercises can actually bring benefits, because now I have noticed that he started inserting the letter E too often in his speech, almost before every word. Also, there are days when he speaks perfectly, but there are also days when he struggles to pronounce a word that he had no problem with before. The speech therapist says that it depends on the day and the sudden change in weather...
Is that really so, I don't know?? I am still interested, can stuttering be corrected in such a small child? Please, if you don't mind giving me any answer. I'd be very grateful.
By the way, I am writing to you from Mostar. Kind regards.
Greetings,
The speech therapist probably thought it was a physiological stuttering (stuttering that is common in children aged 2.5 - 5 years because the child's vocabulary expands exponentially and the brain is overloaded), but again, waiting for the results for a year is too much and in my opinion unacceptable...
The exercises you received are not bad, I can explain a little why:
- Vowels can be a problem for us when pronouncing, as well as the "hard" letters "K", "T", "P", "G" etc.
- Slow singing is probably because we should actually be talking by formulating a sentence in our head before we say it and while speaking we connect the words as in singing. This technique makes talking easier because no one stutters while singing, while slow singing can lead to the same effect where the child can learn how to speak properly and build confidence by doing so, which is very important.
- Everyone who stutters has his own filler. In my case, it is "this" and I often insert that word before saying the exact word, for example "That, did you see?" ... That's how your child developed that filler "E". The fillers may change over time or remain the same. This filler can completely disappear if the child reduces stuttering and acquires a certain speaking technique. For example in the Valmod program, they teach you to insert the sound "mmm" at the beginning, because it is quite imperceptible and is pronounced very quietly before speaking. You can also try some other, less noticeable fillers when practicing with your child.
Since the child is young, I would advise (remember that I am not a speech therapist, although I have been their frequent visitor, but a person who stutters) the following approach and methods with your son:
- Try to somehow present the exercise as a game, so that he is interested. Do not set some goals that he has to meet or in any way let him know that the exercise did not work. From every practice, he is the one who should come out as a winner and receive a prize. Chocolate, a cartoon, anything he really likes should be given to him after the exercise - something he likes the most. Let him love to exercise because that way he will progress more and you as a father (or mother) will connect with him even more.
- When exercising, never show disappointment, anger or any negative emotion. Exercise is a game that you all love and look forward to.
- As for the exercise itself, I can share the technique and tips on what you should pay attention to while he is talking:
- Start each word with the prefix "mmm". Show him how. You start very quietly with "mmm" and say the whole sentence by connecting the words (almost like singing, which you've been doing so far)
- Air is the key in stuttering, control how he breathes. He should take a deep breath before each sentence. Most of the time we stutter because we run out of air, but we simply force ourselves to finish the word and then the blockage occurs,
- We don't move our mouths (lips) enough. Show him, through a joke, how you move your lips a lot while you talk, so that he can try that too. Let him try to express every word he says with his mouth
- In addition to repeating sentences after you, let him tell you how he spent his day, what he did, ask him about simply everything.
- You can remind the child that he should move his mouth more, take a breath and things like that, but with a positive approach
These are just some of the things you can do, but the most important thing is that you, as parents, must always be positive. Because if you are negative, the child sees it, believe me, and then creates an image of himself that something is wrong with him. Then he withdraws into himself and problems arise.
And yes, stuttering can sometimes be strong, sometimes non-existent. I don't know exactly if it's due to the weather or not, but just as you sometimes wake up with a headache, you don't feel like doing anything, it's the same with us with stuttering. Sometimes we can't put 2 sentences together all day and sometimes we talk as if we never stuttered :)
Read the article I wrote about the rules for parents.
Of course, there is always Valmod therapy, which I wholeheartedly recommend and which I have gone to myself. It gave me everything I needed to continue practicing on my own for the rest of my life, but most of all it gave me confidence and showed me that I am not alone nor will I ever be. You have a lot of programs, but one of them is for children from 5.5 years old.
If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me.
Greetings,
I am in my 4th year of speech therapy education. I am currently doing an internship in a kindergarten and there is a little girl involved in speech therapy because of stuttering. While she is in therapy and talking with me and the speech therapist, she has approximately 1 to 2 fluency issues, but when she is in the group, there are many more fluency issues. I'm interested in how to explain to a 5-year-old child how to behave in a group and avoid these inefficiencies, whether and in what way it can be influenced, because honestly everything seems ideal in therapy, but when she enters the group, everything falls apart...?
Thanks in advance for your reply and best regards.
Greetings,
I can speak from my experience as a person who stutters and who has stuttered since preschool age, and the experience gained from other children throughout my life...
Unfortunately, we all have the same problem as the girl in your group. While practicing, everything is great because most of the time the atmosphere in which the exercises are done is not as stressful for her as, for example, speaking in front of a group of people, and all the techniques she learned go down the drain immediately. It's just the way it goes with us, the anxiety and fear are too great and we can't control our speech no matter how well we speak while we're in therapy or in a less stressful environment.
What known and effective therapies do is to bring that "stressful" environment closer to people who stutter and work in groups, in front of other children. Of course, there are mostly children who stutter in such therapies, so it all makes more sense, but a part of these therapies is that after a certain time the participants have to perform certain tasks in the outside world (such as asking random people in the street what time it is, where is the nearest store etc.) and note where we made a mistake and how we can fix it. They always go in pairs so that the other person observes the speech of the person speaking.
What I can recommend to you, as a person who stutters and follows this topic all his life, is to try to bring the child closer to the real situation during therapy. Maybe you should try therapy in the same room with other children, somewhere in the corner of the room, undisturbed, but again so that the child has the impression that someone can hear him or her and therefore has an approximate nervousness like when he or she talks in a group. After that, maybe slowly involve her in the children/group and carry out further therapy with her until it becomes something normal and everyday for her. Maybe then there will be a shift in her speech.
Finally, I would like to mention that there is an excellent Valmod program for children of that age, and if parents have the opportunity, they should definitely look at their program and ask about it.
Greetings!
I am J***, an 8th grade student. Stuttering is a problem for me at school and in everyday life, but it has never hindered me in any of my plans. Last year I participated in a history class competition and became a three-time county champion and state champion.
I started stuttering in the fourth grade and it continues until now. People around me have come to terms with it, but I still practice speaking every day to stop or at least reduce my stuttering a little.
Along with history and geography, my favorite subject is Croatian, which is a bit strange considering the stuttering. I found this site a few days ago and kudos to those who made it!
Thank you J***!
It's great that stuttering doesn't prevent you from doing what you love and being who you are, that's the goal of our site - to show others how they can achieve everything they want in life even with stuttering, you just need to work, have patience and a lot of will.
Hello, I don't even know who I'm writing to.
But I just need to tell my story. I have stuttered since I can remember. It was not a problem for me in primary school and I was a very good student. Before high school, I developed a complex in my head, I had huge stage fright. mentally I was, how to say, distracted. Whenever I knew I had to do an oral exam, I didn't sleep at night, I stuttered even more because of the great fear, I couldn't say the words.
Some laughed, of course, but it wasn't their laughter that was killing me mentally, the thing that was killing me was the fact I blamed myself for not being able to overcome my fear. School ended, I'm still afraid to this day, I'm afraid to go look for work because of that. I am tired of meeting new people. Just last night at the disco, I had a case where a guy laughed in my face, because I can't speak fluently, especially when the music is loud.
I have the feeling that those who are hanging out with me just do it out of pity. I don't know what to do, I'm going crazy, I'm mentally carrying a huge burden inside me... it's a terrible feeling.
Greetings,
Trust me, I know how you feel, I've personally been through it all and experienced it. Maybe this text I'm about to write won't mean much to you, and maybe you'll accept something because I've met so many people and everyone deals with their stuttering differently.
I will tell you how I experienced it and how I "struggled" with it throughout my life.... Honestly, I've always been surrounded by people who understand me and they often stepped in for me in college just so I don't have to present seminars and other things.
I completely excluded from my life and ignored those who laughed at me... Even after all the techniques I learned in Varaždin, presenting a seminar was a special problem for me - I did everything else without fear, but the seminar was always a specific problem and I was never satisfied with my presentations.
Maybe this will sound very strange to you, but I "defeated" stuttering by embracing it. Simply - I stutter and will always stutter - that's how I am, I have this flaw and it simply makes me the person I am today. Who knows, maybe if I had never stuttered I would have been a jerk, mocking others and their flaws and being a bad person.
I understand people well this way, I know how to listen well, give OK advice, understand why their problems are important, I am emotional and sympathize with others, etc. These are all qualities that I am convinced - I acquired because I stutter, because I have been in such situations, I know how I felt and I learned from it - I learned from my problems so that one day I could help others.
Of course, in addition to all these positive and beautiful things, I'm also human - sometimes I get "hurt" because I can't do some ridiculous everyday thing, such as call and order pizza without fear, etc. All these problems don't affect me NEARLY as they used to, just because I realized that I am like that and that I will not change for the rest of my life, and so - I accepted myself.
It's easiest to always be negative - you have to persevere and always be positive - you can't turn off your emotions like a robot, but at least you can make it easier for yourself and not take it so negatively and become depressed. Unfortunately, there is still no cure for stuttering and I doubt that there will be, so I see this approach as the only possible solution.... Sorry for the long message, but I'm so sad to see such a young girl who has so many negative thoughts... If I can still help you, give you advice, please contact me and we'll talk more...
Thank you very much, I started to cry while reading this. It's not a problem for me that someone laughs at me either, I mean, I've experienced a lot of such situations. But it hurt me, and it hurts me to this day because I can't overcome that complex, that fear, because when there is no fear I almost don't stutter, maybe just a little bit. I would simply just like to accept myself, and to overcome this huge fear of meeting people, fear of everything, because it blocks me completely. I want to be that V**** from elementary school for whom nothing was ever an obstacle - I want to accept myself.
Hello,
I came across your site and I read a lot on the Internet. I am 20 years old. I live with my fiance and work in a nursing home. My problem is also stuttering. I have stuttered since 8th grade when I had panic attacks.
I thought it would stop, but so far it hasn't. My stutter is not like a typical stutter. It's not very intense, it's not that noticeable. It happens in stressful situations, in conversations with people I don't know, when I need to call somebody I don't know on the phone, and when I need to introduce myself to somebody new.
The other day I went to an interview with a special education teacher. The lady says that my stuttering is not typical, but that it's all in my head... I think the same way. I saw her on Friday, today is Sunday. It's been 2 days since I was at her place and in those 2 days I focused on speaking slowly, and I stuttered maybe 3,4 times.
My fiance, colleagues at work, my parents say that it is not so severe and that it is hardly even noticeable sometimes. But I'm simply tired of being afraid and living in fear, avoiding people and situations where I might stutter. I don't have the opportunity to go to Varaždin for treatment, and the special education teacher I saw on Friday told me that it would be good for me to see a psychologist because everything is psychologically based. If you can advise me, and tell me some techniques to make it easier for myself, or some of your experiences... Anything.
Kind regards!
Greetings,
Thank you for contacting us. I know how hard it is and how much courage it takes to do something like that. Personally, I have stuttered since the age of 5, today I am 36 years old and I still stutter. Sometimes I stutter strongly, sometimes mildly, sometimes I don't stutter at all - it all depends on the day, weather, mood, etc. I was in Varaždin, went through everything and really - it cured me. The therapy didn't cure my stuttering, but my psyche. We can say that I was on that path even before the therapy, but it only accelerated that process.
I stopped practicing after the therapy and started stuttering again after a week. Strange, isn't it? Why did I stop? I realized that it is not a problem in my life and turned to positive thinking. Stuttering is "all in the head" and I believe that if someone would erase our memory - no one would have stuttered so it is not a disorder, but it is all part of some psychological trauma that happened to us in our life.
Maybe we don't even know about it, maybe it happened when we were very young, etc., but in 99% of cases it happened... You can get all the techniques and means to "control" stuttering, but in my opinion, how you feel, your point of view and your surroundings is much more important. In most cases, people who stutter are not happy with themselves.
Maybe stuttering is not the only reason they are not satisfied, maybe they are not happy with several things, so they accumulate and lead to negative thoughts and a halt in speech. If it weren't for stuttering, there might be some other tics, but everything starts from negative thoughts and dissatisfaction, insecurity. Some of the things I did before in order to raise my self-confidence are the very things you fear: talk to an unknown person, call an unknown person (customer service, for example) and set yourself the goal that no matter how you speak (with a block, without it ) you come out of that conversation satisfied and positive.
If you stutter, you block out, fine - try again. Until you realize that it doesn't matter how you speak, but how you feel afterwards. If you did it 50 times, you probably wouldn't care anymore the 50th time how you speak, and after that you wouldn't feel anything. That's actually the state of mind you want to achieve - so that after the conversation you don't feel negative, but something completely normal that happened and what is a part of you.
Who knows, maybe it really isn't a real case of stuttering - I'm not a speech therapist and I haven't heard you speak, so I wouldn't be able to judge, but what I've learned through my experience and struggle with stuttering is that it's not important how you speak, but how you feel afterwards and how to overcome negative thoughts and not stuttering itself.
When you overcome negative thoughts - you overcome stuttering. Not only stuttering, but you have conquered everything negative that comes your way in life. I know it's very difficult and one message probably can't change your life but still, I'm just trying to convey my experience in a very short message actually haha and trust me it's quite difficult.
That's why I often speak and write about the sentence "The most important thing is to stay positive". At the end of this message (long hehe) - being positive doesn't mean you can't sometimes be angry, sad etc. There will always come a day when it will affect you more than on any other day, but it is important to try to finish that day positively and be surrounded by people you trust and with whom you feel comfortable. Well, I hope I helped you at least a little and shared my experience with you. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in anything else or have any questions...
You have helped me, because I myself can see in these last few days how much it helps to speak slowly. And I feel much better after the visit to the special education teacher and after your message, because I understand now that it is not such a problem and that I am not less worthy if I stutter sometimes. Thank you very much, best regards..
I have a 2.5 year old daughter who started stuttering on Sunday. She did not stutter until then. I don't know if I can be responsible for the consequences, because on Saturday, the day before, I shouted louder at her.
I'm asking for advice, what to do? Thank you in advance.
First of all, I would like to say that I am not an expert (speech therapist) and that you take my advice / suggestions from the point of view of a person who stutters.
Stuttering can occur after a stressful situation, however, usually this situation is only a "trigger" for stuttering, and before that the person had to go through a lot of other traumas, the last of which caused the stuttering to start. It could have been from a firecracker 5 days ago or after you lashed out at her, so don't blame it on yourself.
However, in most cases of preschool children, stuttering is a completely normal period that many children go through. The reason for this is that the child receives a lot of information in a very short time and their brain cannot process it all (especially new words), and when they try to speak, their brain works too hard and is not sure which word to use, so they stutter.
You can best assess which situation it is about (whether your child has suffered a lot of stress in her life until that moment or hasn't ) or if it is simply another situation in which the child is processing a large number of new words and is confused in speech.
Personally, I have first-hand experience where my nephew stuttered for a couple of months in preschool, and it was the latter, although everyone was already ready to accept the fact that he would stutter like me, but he didn't.
My advice to you is to observe the speech and do not try to rush her, correct her or shout at her when she stutters. If after a month or a little less you do not see a change in her speech, go to a speech therapist - because he is more educated than I am in assessing the state of your child's speech. Also, you can read a good article onparents' behavior with their children on our portal.
Dear Sir, I am 20 years old. I am a student in Zagreb. I started stuttering at an early age, but it didn't cause me a problem back then. The most problems occur with phone calls and meeting new people. There are times when my stuttering is reduced, but now it is quite severe. It greatly affects my confidence and sense of satisfaction, so I am sending you this mail with the hope of a successful treatment for my stuttering.
Greetings,
You've probably noticed, but the intensity of the stuttering depends on the change in weather, and right now the weather is going really crazy, so that's probably one of the reasons why you're having more trouble speaking than usual. As for the stuttering itself - if it is a very big problem in your life, I would recommend going to the Valmod program in Varaždin (www.valmod.com for all additional information).
Usually you get a referral from your doctor and you get 12 days of therapy for free - you only pay for accommodation in Varaždin (I'm not sure if therapy is still paid for or not).
Also, go to our site, there are many texts with advice, motivation and the other (we are not allowed to give specific instructions from the Valmod program due to the license, but we have explained a lot of it on the site). I know I can't help you much, but my stuttering is back and I'm not worried at all. You simply reach that stage of life when you realize that stuttering is not a big problem for you - you learn to live with it and realize that it is a part of you - something that has defined you into the person you are.
My son Marko is 12 years old. He has been stuttering for a long time. Before it was only sometimers, but now it is very frequent. It mostly occurs when communicating with others or if he wants to tell us something that happened to him, he really wants to say it quickly, so he stutters.
Along with stuttering, certain tics occur with the nose, eyes, mouth (only occasionally). We went to a speech therapist two years ago and now we have started again. The exercises consist of reading, retelling, timing the pronunciation of vowels in one voice, and so on. Our class teacher suggested that I contact Valmod because she participated in one lecture with the teachers, so she told me a little about it. I got a recommendation from a lot of people to contact them, and I watched a show about it on television.
I would really like to be able to hear from you, maybe it can be changed or at least reduced a little. Thank you in advance!
Greetings,
Stuttering is by definition a type of non-fluent speech. The causes of stuttering can be speech and language disorders, developmental issues and a certain way of how the brain works that favors stuttering - that's what I would call it. It can also be a stressful situation. I don't know when he started stuttering, what period are we talking about?
Children can start stuttering already at the age of 3 or 4, but it usually stops before the age of five and is not accompanied by tics. There is no cure for stuttering, speech therapy can help the child gain greater control of fluency in speech. Marko is 12 years old, it is a time of more intense changes in adolescence, so you may also notice changes in his speech. Stuttering itself as a speech disorder has several types, it can be blockages - pauses ("when a.... are you coming?") or frequent repetitions of the same syllables ("when are you co-co-co-coming?") or some other forms.
If you have any questions and if I am unclear, please contact me in any form, I am sending my contact information, you can always write to this email as before. My recommendation is to continue speech therapy along with psychological therapy if the school psychologist is already working with the student. The relationship between the specialist and the child is also important, in the sense that Marko does not feel as if he is taking an exam or test, but rather that he can relax during therapy, so the exercises will be more effective for him as well.
Speech therapy exercises can be used to reduce and seemingly cover up speech disorders. A twelve-year-old can gain more control over his speech. For you as a parent, it is important to have time to listen to your child, do not demand that he speaks precisely and accurately, allow him to take as much time as he needs, do not criticize, do not deliberately put him in uncomfortable situations, do not interrupt the speech and NEVER finish the sentence for him. Look into each other's eyes when you talk, create a pleasant atmosphere in your own home.