There are 8.89 million pupils in the UK. 8% of children stammer at some point, albeit temporarily. Therefore, there's around 711,000 students out there who might be incredibly anxious about starting school.

This is a THREAD on how to support pupils who stammer. Please RT.
Stammering is a neurological condition that makes it physically hard to speak. Someone who stammers will repeat, prolong or get stuck on sounds or words. There might also be signs of visible tension as the person struggles to get the word out.
Stammering affects mainly males. There is no link between stammering and intelligence. Like other neurological conditions, it covers a spectrum. Everyone stammers differently. For some there’ll be periods of their life when they stammer less and for majority, it stays for life.
Pupils who stammer may: tap their leg or arm with the palm of their hands to help them get into a rhythm,
have tension in their face, eyes, lips and jaw. They may
elongate sounds in a word, avoid saying certain words
block on words..
so you’ll only hear silence while their mouth is open,
repeat sounds or words, attempt to manage their breathing, avoid eye contact and pretend to have forgotten what they wanted to say.
From my experience as a person who stammers, here is some advice I’d like to give teachers:

Most importantly, treat a pupil with a stammer the same way you treat pupils who do not. No one likes to be treated differently and kids and young people know when you are doing it.
The more anxious the child feels, the more likely they’ll be to stammer. It can be tempting to say things like “spit it out”, but that’s the worst thing you can say. Rather, give them the time to say what they want to say.
Don’t tell a child who stammers to breathe slowly or to take their time – they know that themselves. However, you can reassure them that you are there to listen.
Show them that you are always listening. Ensure you keep natural eye contact at all times. People who stammer, including myself, like to know that we are being listened to.
Ask the pupil what you can do as a teacher to support them. It is best to do this privately as they’re likely to be pretty sensitive about stammering and might not want to talk about it.
Try speaking to a pupil who stammers more, even if it’s before a lesson or in the canteen. Every bit of conversation will help them. This will hopefully encourage them to speak more, which is what we want.
Praise your pupils when they’ve done something good and worth acknowledging. Confidence is key for pupils who stammer.
Be aware of any bullying that is taking place. Bullying should be dealt with immediately.
These are just a few things you can do to support a child who stammers. If in doubt, you should speak to the SENCO (Special Education Needs Co-ordinator) in your school or your local NHS speech and language therapy service.
For more information, please visit and support https://stamma.org/  and follow @stammer

Here's a video also: https://twitter.com/stammer_teacher/status/949589458730520578
You can follow @stammer_teacher.
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