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%u00a9 Elklan Training Limited 2023Speech andLanguage Support for 3-5s10.8.0 Appropriate Support for a Child who StammersStammering Therapy%u2022 Early intervention is important in supporting children to never see their stammer as a problem.%u2022 There is no cure for stammering, therefore it is essential that therapy will support and empower children to communicate to their full potential and say what they want to say, when they want to say it, whether they continue to stammer or not.%u2022 Stammering therapy for children between the ages of 3 and 5 is often %u2018indirect%u2019. This means we work more with the child%u2019s parents/carers and others within the child%u2019s environment for example their nursery or school. %u2022 Therapy, whether indirect or direct is stammering affirming, promotes positive attitudes to stammering and prevents the development of negative attitudes towards communication.%u2022 Therapists will signpost parent/carers/children and young people to support within the stammering community for example parent or peer groups. The benefits of connecting with others with a shared experience is well documented. Indirect Therapy%u2022 Indirect therapy involves creating safe, stammer friendly environments for children.%u2022 This might be advice/training for people within the environment, including parents/carers/peers for example in parent groups. It will include supporting their knowledge and understanding of stammering, dismantling myths around stammering and providing advice about how to create a stammer friendly environment. %u2022 Therapy may also include reducing demands or %u2018pressures%u2019 in the child%u2019s environment (demands and capacities model) or interaction based therapy such as Palin PCI (Parent Child Interaction). %u2022 Demands and Capacities model. Imagine an old fashioned set of weighing scales. On one side you have the child%u2019s capacities or abilities for talking and on the other, the demands or pressures on the child. If there are too many demands, the balance tips and the child stammers, if they tip the other way, the child talks without stammering.