Talking with Biscuit

One thing I've never mentioned about Biscuit here is that he stutters. He's had his stutter since he started talking. 

It hasn't gotten better or worse, but the sounds he makes have changed a little from then to now. In the beginning, as he was learning words, he got stuck on sounds. Instead of ball, sometimes he'd say b-b-b-b-b-b-ball.

As he started talking more, he started using fillers words, such as "uh." And now, in addition to using "uh" between words, he repeats entire words.

So instead of saying, "Mom, can I have some apple juice?" he might say something like, "Mom, um, um, um, um, can can can can I have some um, um, um apple juice?"

Jeff and I are so used to it that we don't notice it much anymore. And other people have been really nice about it, too.

I read a lot online about stuttering and found out a few things:

1. Stuttering can be hereditary, and Jeff stuttered when he was a kid.
2. Boys have stutters more than girls do.
3. It's not a rare problem for kids between the ages of 2 and 5.

Biscuit started talking early, and from what his teachers say, his speech is advanced for his age. Just this past week, one of Biscuit's teachers laughed as she shared a story with Jeff.

"He got bitten by a mosquito and was showing me the bite spot," the teacher said. "I said, 'Awww, I'm sorry that happened.' And he said, 'It's okay. I'll just get Mom and Dad to put some hyrdrocortisone on it.' I have a hard time saying 'hydrocortisone', and he just spit it right out."

I've always felt that Biscuit's speech was advanced just from seeing the look on people's faces when he talks to them in stores or restaurants or wherever he seems to strike up a conversation. He doesn't hesitate to tell people at car shows that the yellow Barracuda belongs to his Dad. And he says "Barracuda" just as good as anybody could.

So from what I had read and just acting on my gut, I asked all our family and friends not to address Biscuit's stutter. I asked them to be patient and let him take his time. And so far, everyone has given him the time he needs when it takes him a few tries to get out what he wants to say.

Jeff and I were talking about it one day, trying to figure out if we should talk to someone about it. Biscuit's pediatrician wasn't concerned about it, but we wondered if a speech therapist would have the same opinion.

Then I remembered that I had met a speech teacher at a friend's dinner party. I asked my friend if she thought it would be okay to contact her friend about Biscuit, and she said she thought her friend would be glad to help.

And she was. She gave me so much information. And she actually wanted more information from me than I was expecting. She wanted to know if Biscuit stutters on whole words or just letter sounds. How often he does it. If there are any times he consistently does it. She just asked for a lot of information.

I was a little overwhelmed at first because for some of the questions she asked, I didn't have answers.

I said to Jeff, "I feel bad that I've never paid attention to some of these specifics before."

The speech teacher repeated some of the information I had read online -- that stuttering is hereditary, that it's more common in boys, that not addressing it with Biscuit is the right thing to do. But she also gave us some other information -- mainly that for right now, unless the stutter changes in a significant way, we'll be fine waiting until he goes to school to address it.

So for now, we listen for changes in Biscuit's speech patterns and just try to give him the time he needs to say what he wants to say.

My biggest concern for the near future is that kids are mean, and Biscuit is getting to an age where kids are starting to notice how they're alike and different. I also wonder if, once Biscuit realizes his speech is different, that he'll pull back and not be as outgoing and social. I hope neither of these things happens, but I guess we'll just deal with that when and if it comes.

In the mean time, I just enjoy the fact that Biscuit seems oblivious that his speech is any different than anyone else's and that he'll just talk up a storm to anyone who will listen.