Does your child stutter?

At one time, if a child seemed to have difficultly speaking or tended to hesitate before using certain words or syllables, or more often, repeated certain syllables, a parent might assume the child was stuttering.

Now, however, speech and language specialists say that it may be perfectly normal for some children to go through periods of what they call disfluency. In any event, what’s important is determining if the child is stuttering, and if so, getting professional help as soon as possible.

The Stuttering Foundation of America (1-800-992-9392; www.stutteringhelp.org) can provide the names of speech-language pathologists who are specialists in stuttering. Make sure the speech pathologist you choose holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Meanwhile, here’s what you can do at home to help the stuttering or occasionally disfluent child.

1. Speak slowly and in a relaxed manner to your child, and have other family members do the same, but not so slowly that you sound unnatural. Use “Mr. Rogers” (the program continues in reruns on most public TV stations) as a model of how to talk to a child.

2. Never show impatience with your child’s hesitant speech. Listen for as long as it takes for the child to say what is on her or his mind.

3. If your child shows frustration with his or her speech, say it’s all right, and that many people, including yourself, sometimes find it hard to get the words out. And be sure to reassure children that no matter how well or not so well they may do, you and the family will always love them.

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WORTH WATCHING: Madeline Stowe stars in the CBS film “Saving Milly,” airing Sunday, March 13. This is the story of Milly Kondracke, who, after a long and courageous struggle, died of Parkinson’s disease, and the loving support of her husband, political journalist Mort Kondracke, who helped her live her life to the fullest before the end came.