Stuttering

Causes of stuttering

There are external and internal causes of pathology; sometimes it is difficult to determine what caused the defect.

Risk factors in children

• Heredity.
• Weakness of the speech apparatus.
• Difficulties in the development of motor skills and sense of rhythm.
• Injuries during pregnancy and childbirth.
• Pathologies of the nervous system.
• Metabolic disease.
• Mental stress.

Stuttering can be triggered by severe anxiety, fear, or stress from separation from a loved one. If several languages ​​are spoken in the family, this can cause pathology.

Congenital causes

If a child stutters from the age of 2-3 years, brain dysfunction is often diagnosed.

• Pathologies during the development of pregnancy. If the baby did not have enough air during pregnancy (intrauterine hypoxia) or the mother suffered an infectious disease, this can lead to speech abnormalities.
• Generic problems. Trauma or hypoxia at birth can negatively affect brain activity. Prematurity is also a cause of stuttering.
• Individual characteristics. Cholerics have a higher risk of developing pathology than melancholic and sanguine people. Speech development is negatively affected by nervousness and increased excitability.
• Genetic predisposition. If close relatives had similar problems, there is a high probability that the disorders will manifest themselves in the child.

Acquired causes of the disease

If a child used to speak normally, and then at 4 or 5 years old began to stutter, this indicates unfavorable external conditions.

• Psychotrauma. As a result of the painful loss of a loved one, fright, or prolonged stress, a disorder can occur. Children who are deprived of attention and, conversely, spoiled, suffer from stuttering. If excessive demands are placed on a child and he is afraid of not meeting expectations, a defect may form. Source: A.I. Kruglikova Stuttering as a psychological problem // Bulletin of the Taganrog Institute named after A.P. Chekhova, 2020, p.61-66
• Physiology. Until the age of 5, children's hemispheres are not fully formed; this may be accompanied by difficulties in speech. In this case, no correction is required; the child outgrows such disorders and they quickly go away on their own.
• Diseases. Infectious diseases (encephalopathy, meningitis), injuries, bruises, complications after ARVI and influenza can lead to speech defects.
• False stuttering. The problem arises when a child lives with an adult who stutters and begins to copy the manner of communication.
• Retraining left-handedness. Left-handed people do not tolerate stress well, and constant transfer of a spoon or pen from the left hand to the right is accompanied by severe discomfort for such children.

Drug treatment for stuttering

The drugs for stuttering that are now prescribed, for the most part, are tranquilizers and anticonvulsants. This is not a cure specifically for stuttering, these drugs suppress the nervous system, and stuttering weakens, like other nervous functions. Yes, speaking becomes easier, but stuttering does not disappear completely, and the side effects are quite significant. So the payback for stuttering pills can be: irritability, aggressiveness, agitation, drowsiness, nausea, dizziness, headache, as well as skin rash and itching. Anti-stuttering pills are also quite toxic and can cause liver damage.

Symptoms of pathology

You should know the first signs of stuttering in order to consult a doctor in time.

• The child suddenly becomes silent and may not speak for several hours to days. Then he begins to speak, but stuttering. If you consult a specialist before your baby starts talking again, you can avoid stuttering.
• Repetition of the first syllables, words at the beginning of a phrase.
• Stopping in the middle of a word or phrase.
• Inclusion of extra sounds (i, a) before some words.
• Difficulty starting a conversation.

Symptoms of stuttering in children are:

• Stumbling on a sound or syllable due to a spasm of the speech apparatus (mm-m-m-m-mama, ma-ma-typewriter).
• Long pauses between sounds, stretching (boy.....boy).
• The appearance of a nervous tic, disturbances in sleep, appetite, digestion, and enuresis may occur.
• Increased tearfulness, nervousness, aggressiveness. If you can’t pronounce a word, the child gets worried and may cry.
• Tendency to withdraw into oneself, difficulties in communication, fear of ridicule.

If symptoms are detected, it is necessary to find out the cause of the pathology and find a way to rid the child of stuttering.

“It won’t go away on its own.” Psychotherapist about stuttering and treatment methods

Today, October 22, is International Day of Stutterers. Many people have problems of this nature. Some people, until adulthood, cannot cope with constant hesitations in speech, while believing that everything should go away on its own. Psychotherapist Maxim Dubovets told the Omsk Here correspondent why stuttering needs to be treated and who has a greater predisposition to logoneurosis.

— What is stuttering and in what forms does it manifest itself?

- Stuttering can be tonic or clonic. Either the person repeats the syllables, or cannot squeeze out any sound. This is a neurological problem, and the possibility of stuttering is inherited. The predisposition to stuttering is greater in left-handers and retrained left-handers. Sometimes children relearn not on purpose, but because they look at their peers and relatives and begin to do something with their right hand instead of their left hand.

-Where does it come from?

“First of all, this is an incorrect interaction of brain cells; they have different amplitudes. Sometimes it may seem that a person, when he is calm, does not stutter. But he has it, even if he doesn’t say it: he thinks so. And at the moments when a person begins to get nervous, it is not his speech apparatus that begins to get confused and work in this way, but the thought process in his head.

— What are the triggering factors for stuttering?

— When a child is rushed to say: “Come on faster, talk already.” When the mother’s voice is monotonous, fast, inexpressive, when loved ones have poorly articulated speech, the so-called village accent, when people speak without unclenching their jaws.

Another reason is birth trauma. It causes severe forms of stuttering, and children begin to stutter as soon as they begin to speak. It will be difficult and difficult to treat.

— Is it possible to start stuttering as an adult?

— Usually people begin to stutter at the age of 3.5-6 years. In adulthood, a person may also begin to stutter. This possibility exists only if he takes antipsychotics. I have not seen adults suddenly start speaking with pauses.

In adults, mutism is more likely to occur (refusal of verbal communication - editor's note). This is an acute condition that can be treated quickly and easily if you contact a specialist right away. It can be triggered by stress and psychological trauma. Selective mutism can also occur when a person stops speaking with someone specifically or in a certain situation.

— What are some misconceptions about stuttering?

“I often hear: “Everything is fine with us, the dog just scared the child!” We don't have a dog that runs around the city and infects children with stuttering. Everyone was once scared, but not everyone began to stutter. This is a certain factor, a trigger mechanism that could trigger stuttering in this particular case.

Sometimes they say that they turned to traditional healers to solve the problem. Grandmothers do not treat stuttering. All the methods they use are autohypnosis methods. That is, both the patient and the relatives explain to themselves why this stuttering will go away. There are no healing factors here.

— Can stuttering go away on its own?

- No. In rare cases where a person has had an induced stutter, it may go away on its own. What we are talking about: a child comes to kindergarten, begins to communicate with someone who stutters, and begins to stutter because of this. In this situation, while communication is ongoing, there are stumbling blocks. We stopped communicating - the child speaks normally.

— Is it possible to completely cure stuttering?

— Here you need to understand: “What do you think: checkers or driving?” Speak smoothly or eliminate the cause of stuttering? You won’t be able to change your genetic predisposition to stuttering, but we can force your brain cells to function correctly. It's real. By the way, it doesn’t matter at all at what age a person decided to seek help and get rid of speech problems.

When we talk about the treatment of stuttering, we must understand that we normalize the rhythm, expressiveness of speech (emphasis on some main word), and pauses. In the future, the following problem may arise: when a person understands that he can speak, there is a need to express his thoughts. But he is not used to thinking in complete sentences; his vocabulary and stock of common words may suffer. It may turn out that he has not formed a strategy for behavior in a given situation: he was simply “hiding” behind his speech. This is where psychotherapy begins: we teach him to speak, write essays, communicate with strangers in public places, and more.

There are five factors that can determine whether you are being treated for stuttering correctly or not.

Rule No. 1. You study with a specialist: a stuttering specialist or a speech therapist-stuttering specialist.

Rule No. 2. The effect should be immediately in the first lesson. Relatives and the person himself should see that the technique really works and contributes to the fact that right now the person speaks without hesitation.

Rule #3: The techniques used should be simple, understandable and applicable.

Rule No. 4. A person must understand how it works. When, for example, we talk about hypnosis, patients do not understand how it happens. A person can be hypnotized and forced to say a phrase without hesitation, but he does not understand how it worked.

Rule No. 5. In case of relapse, a person knows what to do. He can correct the situation without going to a doctor. A specialist should teach this.

— Are there many such specialists in Omsk?

— We have one or two stuttering specialists in our city. And this has always been the case, because this is a highly specialized profession.

— How to communicate with people who stutter? Should I help him finish the word if he cannot do it himself?

- First of all, you need to be respectful. There is never any need to rush. Whether to negotiate or not depends on the person. If he feels better when people negotiate for him, then so be it. But if you have the opportunity to say it yourself, have respect and wait. Another option is to come to an agreement with the person and ask: “Is it easier for you for me to finish the words that are difficult for you to pronounce, or can you handle it yourself?” Well, this is possible if it is a close relationship. And, of course, you can offer the person help and contact a specialist for treatment.

Types of stuttering

• Pathological – problems that are congenital or genetically determined.
• Neurotic – caused by trauma, fear, stress, difficult psychological situation.
• Tonic - the child pauses in words, stretches out the vowels.
• Clonic - the baby does not pronounce letters, syllables, repeats them.
• Combined - has signs of clonic and tonic appearance.
• Unstable - the child stutters in certain situations: in an unfamiliar environment, under stress.
• Habitual – the defect is permanent.
• Cyclic - disturbances alternate with periods of rest, during which speech is normal. Then the problem comes back.

There are two forms of stuttering:

• Neurotic, or logoneurosis, which causes psychotrauma. Pathology can manifest itself at any age.
• Neurosis-like - caused by a violation of cerebral structures, most often manifests itself at 3-4 years.

Treatment of pathology

The most important thing parents should do as soon as they notice signs of stuttering in their child is to consult a specialist. The SM-Clinic employs experienced doctors who will diagnose stuttering in children and help solve the problem using highly effective methods.

In addition to speech therapy classes, parents need to provide a comfortable environment at home and avoid stress. It is better to talk to your baby smoothly and not rush.

Treatment of stuttering in children requires an integrated approach. The correction is aimed at developing correct speech and solving psychological problems. Source: I.A. Kuvshinova, E.R. Mazitova Main directions of comprehensive correctional work to overcome stuttering in children // International Journal of Humanities and Natural Sciences, 2020, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 135-138

Massage for speech problems in children

The speech therapist conducts correctional classes; they are indicated in the treatment of neurotic problems. The method is especially effective for children from 2 to 6 years old.

Massage the face, head, neck, shoulders, upper back and chest. Segmental massage affects a specific muscle that regulates the speech apparatus. The procedures are prescribed in a course - daily for 2-3 weeks.

To correct speech defects, acupressure is used, which is considered the most effective. With its help, they influence the speech center and relieve excessive excitability. This massage should be performed regularly for 2-3 years.

Set of exercises

For stuttering, breathing exercises, stretching to normalize muscle contraction, and eye exercises are recommended, which have a positive effect on mental and physical development. The child develops diaphragmatic breathing skills, and the baby learns to consciously regulate the rhythm. During exercise, the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall are strengthened. Regular exercise allows you to fully regulate your speaking function.

Children do exercises in different positions, with active movement and at rest. Later, verbal techniques are added to breathing exercises. To quickly resolve problems, they gradually increase the complexity and adapt the child. The best results are achieved with a combination of proper breathing and massage.

Drug treatment

The doctor prescribes sedatives and restorative drugs, vitamins, and antispasmodics. Herbal medicine helps. For a neurosis-like form of stuttering with brain damage, antispasmodic drugs and minimal doses of tranquilizers are prescribed.

Children are recommended to practice singing, music, and dancing, which form correct speech breathing and develop a sense of tempo and rhythm.

How can you tell if your child’s stuttering has been cured? A sign of elimination of the disease is free speech in any situation, even when speaking in public.

Stuttering

Treatment methods for logoneurosis and logophobia

Stuttering is a psychosomatic disorder of speech function, which is characterized by repetition, prolongation or interruption of spoken sounds against the background of convulsive activity of the muscles of the speech apparatus. Almost always accompanied by logophobia , that is, an obsessive fear of speech, avoidance of speech situations and, in severe cases, leads to disruption of social adaptation. Depending on the nature, location and degree of speech convulsions, there are many types of stuttering.

There is a widespread misconception that stuttering is a habit and has no serious pathogenesis. In fact, according to ICD-10 and other international classifications, stuttering is a disease characterized by functional and structural disorders of parts of the central nervous system.

Today, there is a complete understanding of the physiology of stuttering, and research results provide insight into the neurophysiology of stuttering, which is associated with impaired communication between the speech centers of the brain and an imbalance of neurotransmitters that affect speech function.

A number of causes of stuttering have been identified, and genes have been identified in which mutations can lead to it, so the predisposition to stuttering is inherited. In addition, stuttering can occur against the background of other diseases and has a similar psychological mechanism to some mental disorders.

It is almost impossible to receive a disability due to stuttering, and depending on the severity, a stutterer is not subject to conscription into the army.

Contrary to popular belief, the occurrence of stuttering does not depend on upbringing. Parents cannot bear psychological responsibility for the appearance of stuttering in a child, but at the same time they are entirely responsible for the result of treatment. Stuttering can occur at any age, but most often it occurs during the period of active speech formation, from 2 to 5 years. The basic neurophysiology of stuttering shows that this is no accident. In rare cases, speech may be restored after this.

There is no reliable data on the prevalence of stuttering, since large-scale statistical studies have not been conducted - various sources indicate values ​​from 1% to 5% for European countries. The latter value is closer to reality, that is, every twentieth person suffers from one form or another of stuttering. It is noteworthy that stuttering directly depends on the language factor - among native speakers of Chinese, stuttering practically does not occur, and the most difficult situation is among the African population, where stuttering can occur in 9% of people. The difficulty of the Russian language for people who stutter is noted.

Disease prognosis

With timely consultation with a specialist and proper treatment, stuttering is cured in 70-80% of cases. Age plays a role - the defect can be easily corrected in children 3-5 years old. The earlier the problem is identified, the greater the chances of a positive result. Stuttering in school-age children is more difficult to deal with. A less favorable prognosis for the treatment of advanced pathology in children 9-11 years old. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5257259/ Anne Smith, Ph.D. and Christine Weber Childhood Stuttering – Where are we and Where are we going? // Semin Speech Lang. 2020 Nov; 37(4): 291–297

Prevention in children

Before treating a child's stuttering, you need to ensure a calm environment at home. It is necessary to create a comfortable psychological environment.

In many cases, logoneurosis goes away without taking medications or involving doctors. In this case, special techniques that develop speech and correct diction are very helpful.

If you detect symptoms of the disease, we suggest that you contact a specialist at our center. We will identify the causes and offer effective treatment methods for stuttering in children.

Sources:

1. E.F. Arkhipova. If a child stutters // Modern preschool education. Theory and practice, 2020, pp. 62-67.
2. A.I. Kruglikova. Stuttering as a psychological problem // Bulletin of the Taganrog Institute named after A.P. Chekhova, 2020, p.61-66.
3. I.A. Kuvshinova, E.R. Mazitova. The main directions of comprehensive correctional work to overcome stuttering in children // International Journal of Humanities and Natural Sciences, 2020, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 135-138.
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5257259/ Anne Smith, Ph.D. and Christine Weber. Childhood Stuttering – Where are we and Where are we going? // Semin Speech Lang. 2020 Nov; 37(4): 291–297.

Pitsukha Svetlana Anatolyevna Clinic

Author of the article

Pitsukha Svetlana Anatolevna

Doctor of the highest qualification category

Specialty: neurologist

Experience: 23 years

The information in this article is provided for reference purposes and does not replace advice from a qualified professional. Don't self-medicate! At the first signs of illness, you should consult a doctor.

Forum: how to cure stuttering in adults - reviews

Popular about stuttering

All such disorders usually occur in early childhood. This area of ​​psychosomatic illness is associated with unusual and unnatural manifestations that often frighten doctors.

Disorders arise as a result of early childhood fears, when the child’s body is open, the nervous system is not developed, and the defense is very weak. And at any unexpected moment, when a child finds himself alone, and what he thinks is a scary stranger appears nearby, or when some animal may run towards him, the psyche of some children may not be able to stand it. In this case, a severe blow in the form of a fright can change the normal healthy state of the child.

There are children who have a very delicate sensitive nervous system. Such a nervous system allows them to achieve great success in various creative activities and scientific research. But, at the same time, this property of the sensitive nervous system also has another side: children under the age of 7-9 years, finding themselves in situations that seem very scary to them, can develop psychosomatic diseases.

This does not mean that a child will necessarily develop a disease after any fright. But, nevertheless, sometimes an unexpected powerful fright can reach a level of excitation that the central nervous system cannot withstand and misses the blow to protect the brain.

As a result of a collision with the protective functions of the brain, an interaction occurs, after which a residual phenomenon is formed. It is an electromagnetic field that begins to actively function and affects various sensitive structures of the brain. In particular, when stuttering, the effect of this electromagnetic field affects the speech function, the function of communication and interaction between people.

The mechanism of therapeutic action is aimed only at neutralizing and “demagnetizing” electromagnetic fields in the form of foci and charges formed in the structure of the brain in addition to its previous normal healthy state and being the main cause of artificial disruption of the flow of impulses connecting the brain with the speech apparatus.

As soon as a child becomes excited and excited, brain activity increases. At the same time, the activity of the resulting focus in the form of an electromagnetic field also increases, which manifests itself in the form of obstacles and speech delay.

The flow of impulses is directed to the sphere of interaction between the brain and the speech apparatus, and in connection with this, various unforeseen situations occur, up to the inability to pronounce a single word.

Here is a simple and accessible understanding of the stuttering process and the reasons why it happens. Now you can understand for yourself what needs to be done to ensure that speech disorders no longer occur.

This concept is confirmed by numerous manifestations of various forms of psychosomatic disorders.

As a result of the fright experienced, the child may exhibit both nervous tics and stuttering at the same time. There are cases where at first there were nervous tics, which then turned into stuttering and vice versa. There are forms of speech delay and wave-like “pushing” of the voice timbre with transitions from a dull timbre to a squeal, which have already been acquired from the use of heavy neuroleptics. (Read about tardive dyskinesia on Wikipedia)

Everything would be fine and you can adapt to anything. But with all psychosomatic disorders, constant tension in the body is created, causing a lot of unpleasant conditions: increased fatigue, irritability, mood swings, emotional imbalance, etc. The favorite topic of all psychologists is ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - this is a concomitant condition of any psychosomatic disorder. In medicine and pedagogy there is no unambiguous understanding of this phenomenon. But constant tension arises in the body as a result of the suppression of brain activity by the existing electromagnetic field or fields. Which the brain naturally constantly tries to resist.

And now a few words about stuttering treatment specialists.

For example, you come to the dentist. And he tells you that all his life he has only been treating caries of the sixth upper left tooth.

The situation is funny, isn't it?

Specialists who spend their entire lives only treating stuttering also cause slight bewilderment.

Why?

Yes, because there are no single diseases in humans.

What about gentlemen, speech therapists? - you ask. Yes, they can, if one of them is fluent in the methods of trans-integral techniques, which have been used for thousands of years to treat disorders of the brain and central nervous system.

There are different directions and groups that have the same causes, mechanism and treatment methods.

Stuttering is just a symptom and one of the manifestations of a psychosomatic disorder. This area of ​​diseases, which represents a black hole in medicine, has its own causes, mechanisms and treatments that have been used for thousands of years.

Logically, a specialist who knows how to treat stuttering can treat any psychosomatic disorder and vice versa. Namely: nervous tics, phobias, depression, psychosis, neuroses, ADHD, etc.

Prices