Stammering Children Have Better Non-Verbal and Verbal Skills: Study

Children who stammer suffer no negative impact due to their condition and have higher verbal and non-verbal skills compared to other children, a latest Australian research reveals.

The research conducted by The Murdoch Children's Research Institute and University of Melbourne found that stuttering children develop normally like their peers. "Children who stutter are similar in emotional development to others," said Professor Sheena Reilly, lead study author.

For the study the researchers examined 1600 children from zero to four years of age. "We also found the children who stutter have better verbal and non-verbal skills than their peers (11 percent)," she said.

Recovery from stuttering within 12 months was 6.3 percent, a rate lower than expected, the researchers noted. "What we usually say to parents is you can afford to wait for 12 months before seeking help, providing the child does not appear to be too aware of the stutter, is not being teased or bullied and there are not other problems," Reilly said. She also added that parents "can be reassured that developmental stuttering is not associated with a range of poorer outcomes in the preschool years."

According to Joseph Donaher, academic and research program director for the Center for Childhood Communication at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia,  the study results could help parents understand the impact of stuttering in their children. "Reports like this help clinicians make the case that some stuttering, especially for a short period of time, doesn't mean that your child is going to be negatively impacted in the future," he said. He also advised parents that they should seek the help of speech-language pathologist to understand more about the stammering problem in children.