The goals are to keep the child’s stammering at its present level, prevent its further development, and keep the child talking.

1. Don’t let your child know that you are anxious or concerned with his speech.
2. Keep your child healthy, getting adequate sleep and proper medication.
3. Look at your child when he speaks and show by your expression that you are interested in what he is saying and not how he is saying it.
4. Refrain from teaching tricks (deep breaths, arm-waving, finger-snapping.
5. Don’t force the child to speak or recite to strangers. However, encourage the child to speak as often as he wants.
6.  Accept your child as he is; don’t reject him or give the impression of rejection.
7. Do not let your child avoid normal responsibilities. Use the same discipline as with any. 

8. Look for emotional tension at home or school when stuttering is very bad.
9. Praise your child when he speaks well; but this should not be taken for praise for not stuttering; praise what he says, not how he says it.
10. Help your child develop constructive work and hobby attitudes.  Give positive feedback and reinforcement.
11. The child should not be required to hurry with speaking nor should you develop the attitude that he should.
12. Maintain a calm, relaxed, unhurried manner with slow speech.
13. Avoid suggestions such as: Think before you speak; Talk slower or faster; Wait until you can say it; etc.
14. Don’t ask the child to substitute an easy word for a hard one as this will only increase the fear of certain words and phrases.
15. Don’t supply words. Let the child get his words out for himself. Don’t interrupt.

16.Encourage speaking at home and in school.

17. Nothing can ever take the place of love, understanding, and patience when dealing with a child — any child.



1. Speak to the child’s parents to gain further insight into the child’s stammering and determine a cooperative approach.
2.  Be open with the child about his speech, while realizing that stammerers find it difficult to acknowledge their speech as a handicap.
3.  Keep the child talking so that he experiences positive speaking situations.
4. Don’t supply words for the child or teach tricks like: deep breaths, word substitution, finger snapping, etc.
5. Praise the child for participating verbally in classroom activity. Praise what they say, not how they say it.
5.  Maintain normal eye contact with the child and project a relaxed body-language.
6.  Model slow, relaxed speech when talking to the younger child.

7. Be careful not to impose a sense of “time-pressure” on the child’s speaking situations.
8. Gently discourage other children from making fun of the child’s stammering.
9.  Talk openly with the child about stammering if he wishes, but do not make a big deal out of it.
9.  After a disfluent utterance, repeat back the content of what the child said. This will ensure understanding and reduce the child’s negative memory of the disfluency.
10.  Use a flexible roll-call. Allow children to use a range of answers rather than being forced to attempt a response they find difficult.
11.  Use a random method to call on students to speak in class. The apprehension of waiting his turn to speak severely increases the stutterer’s tension.
12.  Know that the child will experience greater disfluency at times, especially when tired or under stress.
13.  Involve the child in all the classroom activities. Avoidance only reinforces negative speech habits and isolates the child.




1. Talk about stammering with each other.
2. Most people who stammer does not like people supplying words or finishing their sentences for them.
3. Accept that stammering is an important issue for your partner; your patience and understanding are important.
4. Ask your partner how you best can help them, and express how you are feeling too.
5.  Accept that you won’t always understand what your stammering partner is going through – listen and don’t feel guilty.
6. Be prepared to talk and keep talking about stammering with your partner; lots of two-way communication is definitely desirable.
7. If you are embarrassed or anxious about your partner’s stammering, learn to accept and be comfortable with it.
8.  Remain calm and relaxed, maintain normal eye contact, and give time for your partner to communicate.
9.  Stammering can affect people’s sense of self-esteem or confidence and can be an important aspect of how they see themselves as people.
10. Your partner may stutter more or less with you than with others. Talk to your partner to find out how it is for them.

 11. Stutterers have “good” days and “bad” days; allow for them.
 12. For people who stammer, meeting members of their partner’s family for the first time can be particularly demanding.
13. It has been known for people who stammer to put off getting married because they were anxious about saying their vows.
14. Discuss any concerns you may have about having children who stammer. Although stammering appears to run in families, your own experiences may help your stammering child.
15. Most people who stammer agree that there is much more going on “under the surface” for them than other people realize.
16. If your partner decides to undertake speech therapy, be supportive. Your partner may appear to stammer more at first as they begin working on their stammering and cease trying to hide it.
17.  Everyone’s stammering is different, what works for one may not work for another.
18.  Working on stammering is usually a long-term undertaking that requires commitment, courage, and self-acceptance.

19. Speech therapy may bring about changes in a relationship. Through mutual flexibility, openness, and trust, you can allow the changes to strengthen the relationship.
20. Something that affects your partner has an effect on you. Naturally it is understandable and acceptable to want to talk about it.

21. Negotiate with your partner how to handle practical matters such as answering the phone, ordering in a restaurant, etc. You or your partner may wish to handle such things differently on different occasions