are these normal developments?

amother

Sun, Jul 22 2012, 6:26 pm

DD turned 2 a few months ago. Within the last few weeks she's had 2 major developments - a stammer and an imaginary friend.
She's always calling her imaginary friend on the phone, asking me where she is, going outside to look for her... isn't she a bit young for imaginary friends? Does she need to see a psychologist?

Now this stammer - it is REALLY REALLY REALLY pronounced. And really recent. Just the last few weeks or so. DD can put 8 or more words in a sensible sentence together. She's never ever been at a loss for words. She doesn't see to be frustrated or grasping for words. She doesn't stammer when she answers a question, so it's not a case of needing to speak to her more slowly. It's more like she'll make a statement or ask me a question and repeat the first word in each phrase over and over and over. It seemed like last week she was repeating the word or first syllable 2 or 3 times before getting the sentence out, now it is more like 10 or 20 times! For example, I had told her I was going to do ironing that day. She said "I I I I I Iron Tatty's shirts and and and and and his pants not not not not not not Mummy's shirts". This morning time she was talking about being outside the previous day " I I I I I I rolled on the grass when (then when was repeated about 20 times, no kidding) I was outside".

Does she need speech therapy for this stammer?

Frenchfry

Sun, Jul 22 2012, 6:39 pm

We've had a couple of imaginary friends over the years in our house. I think its pretty healthy.

As far as the stammer, do you have seasonal alergies in your family, because it may be a sign of athsma/hayfever. My younger brother used to develop a stammer every summer.

mommyla

Sun, Jul 22 2012, 7:45 pm

Imaginary friends are totally normal, and a sign of intelligence.

As for the stammer, I think a lot of kids that age develop it. They have so much to say that their mouths can't keep up. I have a relative who is a well-known speech therapist and deals exclusively with stuttering, and she says that under age 5 it's not considered a stutter. Unless, of course, there are other issues.

So basically, your daughter is not only normal, she's probably very intelligent and verbal! Do not worry!