Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Stuttering?

My DD(9)has begun doing something that comes across like stuttering. She has never done this before. So, I am just wondering if this is a phase and if anyone else's DC does this?

The frequency seems to be spilling into every day conversation, but as an example: When practicing her vocabulary definitions, she begins to stutter and stammer. We tell her to slow down and she gets upset and says, "I see it in my brain, but I can't say it!"

Any thoughts or other questions I should ponder?

TIA!

Totally anecdotal, so take it for what it's worth.

DS5.5, for nearly as long as I can remember, had a thing for starting a sentence, pausing, re-starting the sentence, and then repeating that process several times until he finally blurts out what he was trying to say. This is more pronounced when he's really excited about something. Doesn't happen all of the time.

This is not stuttering as far as I know. The psychologist that we had evaluate DS basically confirmed what I thought: his brain is working so fast that his mouth can't keep up. Sounds like something similar is happening with your DD.

Contrast that to one of DS's friends who is a little older (8). He has a traditional stutter where he's actually stuck on a single word or syllable.

I bet you the mechanics of what's going on in the brain versus speech center is completely different in those two cases.

What does your DD get stuck on? Single works/syllables or does she repeat sentence fragments?

JB

That is exactly what my DD is doing! I was thinking that it may just be exactly what she was telling us, that her brain can see it, but she can't say it. I think it is her excitability over knowing the answer and wanting to get it out as fast as she can to go on to the next.

Thanks for confirming what I was thinking!

My DS4 does this too - he'll start a sentence, then repeat the first word or two over and over until he finally blurts the whole thing out. I think sometimes he's just thinking of just the right word to say.

That's why I'm not too worried about it. Usually, if it gets bad, I just tell him "stop and just think about what you want to say."

JB

We have the same thing, both of them do it! It drives me nuts. I must admit there are days when I think about ST. DS6 does it less than he used to but he still does it. DS4 who I was so sure would never do that (shows how much I know) started when he was 3 and he can get it really bad when he is excited.

DS7 starts and stops and starts when he reads aloud for homeschooling. It seems to be a strand of perfectionism. He wants to read it just right, with perfect pausing and inflection, so he stutter reads several times before moving on. It's extremely hard to listen to and wastes a lot of our school time. I'm working on it with him...

Long story short: I suspect a strain of perfectionism with this sort of behavior, whether in speaking or reading.

That is what I was thinking! DD is a perfectionist!

We have something simieler. DS6 had a speech problem when he was younger (A slight latteral lisp) he now thinks more before he speaks. When he is excited he has trouble putting together fully coherant sentances. His teachers since pre-k have seen it as he just cat keep up with what he is thinking. He is outgrowning it, and sometimes we just slow him down a little.

It also explains why slowing her down upsets her. She is probably mad at herself for not getting it right the first time around.