A Parent's Guide to Responding to Stuttering
From Strategic Speech Solutions LLC
Stuttering can be stressful for both you and your child. How you respond makes a big difference. Here is what helps and what does not.
These are fun, low-pressure activities that build fluency and confidence. The goal is not to practice "not stuttering" — it is to create relaxed, positive speaking experiences.
Take turns adding one sentence to a made-up story. You go first and speak slowly and calmly. Your child adds the next sentence. No rushing, no corrections — just building a silly story together.
Why it helps: Turn-taking removes pressure. Your slow pace models relaxed speech without you having to say "slow down."
Use stuffed animals, socks, or paper bag puppets. Let your child talk through the puppet instead of as themselves. Have a conversation between your puppet and theirs.
Why it helps: Many children stutter less when they are "being" someone else. It takes the spotlight off them and makes speaking feel like play, not performance.
Sing your child's favorite songs together. It can be nursery rhymes, songs from a movie, or anything they enjoy. Sing slowly and have fun with it.
Why it helps: Most children who stutter do not stutter when singing. Singing uses a different part of the brain than speaking. It builds confidence and positive feelings about using their voice.
Read a book together out loud at the same time (this is called choral reading). You and your child say the words together. Then gradually let your voice get quieter so they are doing most of the reading on their own.
Why it helps: Reading in unison reduces stuttering almost immediately for most children. It gives them a sense of success and smooth speech. Slowly fading your voice builds their independence.
Your child describes something (an animal, a room, a silly creature) and you draw it based on their description. Then switch — you describe and they draw.
Why it helps: The focus is on the drawing, not on how they are talking. It takes pressure off speech while still encouraging them to use full sentences and descriptive language.
Set aside 5 minutes a day where your child picks any activity and you follow their lead. No questions. No teaching. Just narrate what they are doing: "You are building a tall tower. Now you are adding the red block."
Why it helps: This reduces the demand on your child to talk while still surrounding them with relaxed, natural language. Many stuttering therapy programs use this as a core technique. It works.
Remember: The goal of these activities is not to stop stuttering. It is to make talking feel safe, fun, and pressure-free. When children feel relaxed about speaking, fluency often improves on its own.
We offer a free 15-minute speech screening. We will listen to your child, talk about what you are seeing, and give you an honest answer about whether therapy would help.