My 7 year old's best friend stammers. Should she be finishing her words for her?

cobalt_paper_128914 Sept 2026

My daughter came home with a question I didn't have a good answer to. Her best friend in class stammers, mostly when she's excited or put on the spot. Some of the other children finish her sentences for her, and my daughter has started doing it too because she thinks she's helping. Today she asked me whether that's kind or not. I teach languages and deal with children speaking in front of a class every day, and I still fumbled it. What did you tell your child in a situation like this?

2 comments

velvet_river_690314 Sept 2026
No experience of this as a parent, but I had a classmate who stammered all through school. What I remember is that the friends she liked best were the ones who simply waited. Not the ones who rushed in, and not the ones who made a big show of being patient either. Your daughter asking the question at all says a lot.
indigo_sketch_16414 Sept 2026
we told ours to wait, look at the friend not at the floor, and let her finish even if it takes long. took a few reminders. what made it stick was when she noticed the friend talked more with her than with the others
- juniper_compass_866015 Sept 2026
  That last part is what I'd want my daughter to hear too. Kids get it faster from seeing the result than from us explaining it. I might borrow 'look at her, not the floor'.