You just described me down to the letter, except that I’m a guy. I started stuttering at about 8 (34 now), primarily having difficulty with beginning of sentences, because my mind was always racing. I’m very quick-talking naturally, and I’m also a pretty introverted person. Are there certain sounds she has trouble with? Isolating those will be helpful, but there’s no magic bullet. Some kids just stutter and get over it. My dad says he stuttered but got over it by his mid-teens. My brother stuttered, and he’s 28 and still had a pretty bad stutter. Mine is still there, but it’s usually pretty minimal (think Bob Newhart) to the point that most people don’t notice at first. Here’s what I can tell you for sure: *If she’s like me, the problem has to do with not breathing correctly. When I block on a word, it feels like some reached in and clenched my throat and no sound will come out. This seems especially common with sounds that originate from the back of the throat like “K” and “G.” *She’s painfully aware when she does it, and probably a bit embarrassed and frustrated. *She’s probably going to get teased for it, because kids are vorpal little shits when they get into groups of three or more. There’s no way around it, so just be prepared to support her and let her seek support in her friends. *She’s probably incredibly smart, and has a lot more to say than she has the means to get out. *She probably stutters when she’s excited or nervous. *She’ll develop a fucking awesome vocabulary to get around it. So here’s some Dos and Don’ts to get you started. **Do:** *Give her your full attention when she stutters. If her brain is going faster that her mouth can (as mine does), she needs to know that you’re not going to get bored and ignore her when she takes longer to get it out. This is #1 for a reason, and I can’t stress it enough. *Talk to her school and see if they have access to speech therapy. I was put in it pretty early and while I still stutter, it kept me from sounding like a character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (I’ll list some tips at the end). *If she’s interested, get her into choir or singing lessons. I did choir for two years in high school and it taught me a lot about breath control. I’ve read before that nobody stutters when they’re singing or talking to an animal / child. Anecdotally, this is true for me and everyone I know who stutters. *Encourage her to take part in activities that don’t involve talking. This is easier for males, as our relationships tend to be more based around experiences than communication, but getting her to play sports, music, games, etc. will remind her that her self-worth and identity. **Don’t:** *Point our that she’s stuttering. She knows. All you pointing it out does is makes her more nervous, which in turn makes it worse. *Tell her to “slow down.” There’s nothing more frustrating for someone who’s brain is going a mile a minute than being told that you need to backtrack. *Finish her sentences. It feels pretty demeaning and keeps her from doing the work she needs. *Treat it like a problem. Some people lisp, some people stutter, and some people can’t say “caterpillar.” Making it a bigger deal than it needs to be makes her more anxious about it. Most people in the sub will probably share the sentiment that they can tell when they’re about to stutter, and that the nerves make it a reinforced pattern. _____________________________ The speech therapy system I went through retaught us now to speak in stages. The first step was whispering, the second step was a breathy monotone voice, the third was a breathy voice with inflections (I can still hear my speech therapist telling me to “talk like Marylin Monroe!”), and so on. If she’s really struggling with a word, try having her whisper it to you or talk like a robot. This kind of goes against my “Don’t make it a bigger deal than it needs to be” statement, so it should be used sparingly if she’s having an especially difficult time. I don’t want to make this too wordy, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions (now or down the line). I did a lot of research about stuttering in college and love sharing.