Will my child's stammer change over time? Why is their stammer different now they are a teenager?

Yes, stammering can change over time and may be related to changes in language ability, hormones and brain development as well as the typical social and academic changes that are part of growing up.

There is still a lot more that we need to understand about stammering and its development, but here we share some reasons that a child's stammer may change over time. 

As a child grows, their language skills continue to expand. When a child reaches school age, they are expected to learn language that is more academic, talk about their ideas in class and form friendships. As a teenager, academic language gets more complex and they are expected to speak fluently and persuasively in class. Increased peer pressure and self-awareness can lead to worries speaking in social situations.

An increase in a stammer is common at those times where a child and young person is learning to process all of this new information, with an increased pressure to speak clearly about more complex ideas.