Risk factors for a child who has started to stutter

Certain factors may place children at risk for stuttering.  Knowing these factors will help you decide whether or not your child needs to see a speech pathologist. 

If your child has one or more of the risk factors below, you should contact your local speech pathologist.

Stuttering is characterised by:

• Whole word repetition (can, can, can you)
• Initial syllable or sound repetition (mu. mu, mummy)
• Inability to get a word out (blocking)

Risk Factor	More likely to continue to stutter	True for my child
Family history of stuttering	A parent, sibling or family member who still stutters
Age of onset	After 3 y 6m of age
Gender	Male
Time since onset of stutter	Stutter present for longer that 6 months