>Even though stuttering is a genetic In my opinion as I understand it there is no stutter predisposition since humans are not biologically born with the ability to speak. I'd much rather like to think in terms of an inherited (predisposing) factor of: * being highly sensitive to sensory input * a weak immune system that predisposes us to catching lots of colds and ear infections during the time we are learning to speak * a highly sensitive or reactive temperament * a tendency to be error-prone (which may be associated with an inherited abnormal dopamine metabolism) All of these factors might predispose to stuttering, and also to other similar disorders e.g., ADHD, OCD and PTSD. Both stutterers as non-stutterers could inherit these factors so, the inherited factor in itself doesn't cause stuttering. It's the combination with the hypersensitivity and the inability to produce clear-sounding speech that may result in a sort of vicious circle whereby we ended up trying too hard to speak better and probably did all the wrong things. Anything that results in a relatively poor quality of speech or language can predispose to stuttering. Therefore, my suggestion to the family and friends of your 4 years old daughter is: * to refrain from asking to repeat a phrase * to refrain from asking: 'what did you say?' --> instead, you can very carefully listen to what she says and let her finish her sentences * to refrain from intervention * to refrain from asking her to do interventions, for example, it's counter-productive to ask her to 'slow down' because she could view this as 'my speech error is a problem' - creating strong emotions and 'I need to avoid it' creating interventions like anticipatory fear The positive result is, that your daughter is less likely to adopt a dysfunctional belief system that 'speech errors' are a problem and to be avoided.