Children

Some errors may be age-appropriate, a helpful hint is to decide whether people regularly find your child harder to understand than their peers. Characteristics may be:

• Omitting sounds within words (i.e. 'do' > 'dog')

• Replacing sounds (i.e. 'play' > fay')

• Difficulty with multi-syllabic / long words (i.e. 'biscuit' > 'bibi')

• Poor saliva control or excessive drooling

• Unable to follow instructions

• Apparent lack of attention or listening

• Memory weaknesses

• Difficulties with working independently

• Giving irrelevant answers to questions

• Reliance on other cues: gesture, following peers, pictures, context and routine

• Unable to effectively express ideas

• Difficulties telling stories and narratives

• Grammatical errors (e.g. 'him go shopping')

• Unformed sentences or not giving enough information

• Using incorrect words (possibly 'word finding difficulties')

• Lack of interaction with peers and adults

• Limited ability to form and sustain friendships

• Difficulty understanding and using humour

• Interpreting language literally (e.g. 'get a roll on')

• Reduced eye contact

• Poor turn taking

• Repeating syllables or whole words (e.g. 'mumumummy' or 'and and and and then he...')

• Unable to vocalise words ('blocking')

• Extending some sounds (e.g. 'sssssssoup')

• Some unwanted whole body or facial movements

• Anxiety or avoidance of certain speaking situations

For more information see www.stammering.org

• Feeling like there is a lump in your throat

• Regularly losing your voice partially or completely

• Coughing a lot

• Having a dry throat

• Having a harsh, croaky or weak voice quality