I have no idea if this is the right place to post this question, so if I’m in the wrong place, please let me know.
My son has always had a stammering problem. He uses a lot of filler pauses like “ah, ah, ah, and, and, and”, and weird endings like repeating the last part of word, “for instance “like, ike, ike.” He took some speech therapy for stuttering and it did help some, but not much.
My main concern right now is his habit of talking in dangling modifers, or screwing up the word order in his sentences. The doctors can’t explain this. Here’s a sample:
” I just read in the paper, <long pause> an article”…..long pause and the goes into his explanation which also has lots of ums, ahs etc.
“I just bought at new coat < long pause> at the store, <long pause> made of leather.”
“Pick up it”
“Put back it”
“That little of spray won’t kill it.” (can’t figure out what word he missed upon questioning)
“Three, one or two” instead of one, two and three
WHAT IS THIS!!!!!!! Sometimes he does this in his writing as well. Although he knows to look for these errors in writing, he can’t get past it in his speech. It’s like he has mini black outs in his thinking. Is there such a LD as a grammar disorder or is this some sort of expressive disorder related to the speech?
Thanks,
Andrea
Re: Pattim, Questions Please!
This is not stuttering at all. It is definitely a language disability in expressive language. He needs to get a complete speech and language evaluation. You didn’t say if there are any problems in comprehension of spoken or written language. That should also be investigated. It sounds as if he is having a problem with syntax, sequencing, and certainly with word retrieval. Before you can treat the problem, you need to determine the exact nature, the etiology, and the extent of it.
One of the things that may help is creating templates for sentences. Make a series of sentence forms for simple declarative, interrogative, etc. sentences with a box for each part of speech on a sheet of paper (one type per sheet). Label each box, but use everyday words such as person/thing, action, description-thing/person, description-action. Then write words on little cards to place in the boxes to make sentences. You can play this as a game. There are also sentence dice. You can help with word retrieval by playing the “I’m going on a picnic” game, but you should use visual cues such as pictures.
I hope that these ideas help, but you really need someone to work intensively with your child.
does he have seizures?
I have been out of town…my son got married… :lol: I agree with Fern, he really should be seen by an SLP for a thorough speech and language evaluation and what you state about the “mini blackouts” I would want to have him see a neurologist before his speech and language evaluation to make sure something isn’t happening neurological that is causing these symptoms.
I have some questions for you. Is he on any medication? Is there a history in the family of a neurological issues? I personally have friends who have grandchildren with Tuberous Sclerosis and another with schizencephaly. Tuberous Sclerosis is a genetic disorder that impacts brain function, speech and language and development in addition to other organs in the body.
Did anyone stutter in your family? Is he anxious, do these problems come up when he is stressed or he is trying to talk in a group of people? Is he a fast talker and rambles like a clutterer or is it just the word finding issues that are of concern for you?
There are language disorders and there are language-based learning disabilities. Patti can answer specifics better than I can. But by all means, you child needs a speech-language evaluation.
Janis