Developmental Childhood Stammering
About this PSP
Led by the Action for Stammering Children Charity, the Developmental Childhood Stammering Priority Setting Partnership worked with patients, carers and clinicians to identify uncertainties about the causes and intervention involved in stammering. It also looked to question more about the social, emotional and mental health development of children with stammers.
The PSP focused on children and young people (between two and 25 years of age) in the UK who have a developmental stammer, inclusive of all language backgrounds.
The Developmental Childhood Stammering PSP Top 10 was published in September 2024.
Key documents
Developmental Childhood Stammering PSP protocol
Developmental Childhood Stammering PSP Steering Group terms of reference
Developmental Childhood Stammering PSP question verification form
Top 10 Priorities
The most important questions
- What are the most effective forms of speech therapy for children and young people who stammer to give the best long term outcomes?
- How can parents and family members best support children and young people who stammer? How can parents and family members best be trained and supported to do this?
- How can teachers in schools best support children and young people who stammer? How can teachers best be trained and supported to do this?
- What are the emotional and psychological impacts of stammering on children and young people who stammer (e.g. low self-esteem and depression)? How are these best treated and supported?
- What causes children to develop a stammer in early childhood?
- Are other brain-related conditions (for example autism and ADHD) linked to stammering? What impact do these have on stammering?
- What impact does stammering have on children's and young people's performance at school? How does this affect their prospects for further training, education and employment? What forms of support would be of most help?
- What is the most effective therapy and support for very young children who stammer (pre-school)?
- What triggers stammering to increase in children and young people in different situations e.g. anxiety or excitement? How is this best managed?
- How does a child's emotions and personality affect the impact of a stammer? Does helping a child to manage their emotions reduce the stammer and its impact?
The following questions were also discussed and put in order of priority at the workshop:
- What are the long-term outcomes for children and young people who stammer, either with therapy or without therapy?
- What helps children and young people who stammer and their families to be more accepting of their stammer? Does this make a difference to the long term outcomes from therapy?
- How can young people who stammer best be supported after leaving school?
- Is there a way to identify which children will grow out of a stammer and which children might need extra support and therapy?
- How do the attitudes of other people, especially parents, affect children and young people who stammer? Do these attitudes need to be improved and if so, how?
- Why is stammering more common amongst boys than girls, particularly when they are teenagers/ young adults?
- Why does singing and performing reduce stammering and how can this be part of the support for children and young people who stammer?
- What do children and young people who stammer and their parents think are the most important outcomes from therapy?
- What are the environmental factors that cause a child to develop a stammer?
- Why does a child's stammering vary from day to day, and come and go over years?
- Would combining speech therapy and support for mental well-being help children and young people who stammer?
- Do drugs used to treat ADHD help children and young people who stammer?
- Does anxiety cause children to develop a stammer?
- Why do some children grow out of their stammer, but others don't?
- What is the best way to prevent bullying of children who stammer in school?