Parents, Are You Worried About Preschool Stuttering? Slow Your Own Speech Down

Sue Hubbard, a pediatrician, writes excellent blog, the The Kid's Doctor

She has a Question & Answer on When to Worry About Stuttering Sue writes about an email from

a mother who is concerned about her 2 1/2 year old daughter who has started stuttering in the last week. She asked” is this something to be worried about or just watch it and see?”

This is a common question from parents with preschool aged children, and is typically most frequent between 18 months and five years of age. Stuttering at this age is called disfluency or pseudo stuttering and is quite common as children learn to speak and develop more complex speech patterns. In many cases the stuttering occurs out of the blue, and may last for several weeks, and resolve, but may return off and on during the preschool years as a child is learning more and more language.

I left a comment taken from a post from mid-2008, Slow Down! I Can't Listen as Fast As You Speak!

Via the Dyslexia Tutor:

Ray Hull, Audiology professor at Wichita State University, tells new teachers that the trick to get children to listen is simple. Just slow down.

From the WSU newswire:

Some learning difficulties in children may be the result of too many adults talking too fast. Wichita State University audiologist Ray Hull says that adults generally speak at a rate of 160-170 words per minute, but a young child's central nervous system can only process speech at a rate of about 124 words per minute.

The Wichita Star online edition:

The gap between what a child hears and what he or she understands can appear to parents and teachers as inattention or outright defiance.

“If teachers would slow down, they would be less frustrated, the children would be less frustrated, and children would learn with greater ease,” Hull said.

An interview with Ray Hull.
Ray Hull's CV.