Nursery World - Let it flow: stammering

<P>What causes a child to stammer and how should families and early years staff help a child deal with this speech impairment? Jackie Cosh explains the condition and outlines where to turn for guidance </P>

What causes a child to stammer and how should families and early years staff help a child deal with this speech impairment? Jackie Cosh explains the condition and outlines where to turn for guidance

About five per cent of children under five will go through a phase of stammering which currently equates to around 188,000 cases in the UK. Stammering usually begins between the ages of two and five, when new words are being learnt, longer sentences used and more questions asked, but it can start at any stage in a child's life. For many the problem disappears without any help, but for up to a quarter there is a serious risk of developing chronic stammering which without intervention could continue into adulthood.

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