How to get rid of stuttering - 10 proven tips

Causes of stuttering

Stuttering is a disorder provoked by psychological and physical factors. The medical name for this speech problem is logoneurosis; it is studied by both medical workers and psychologists, grouped into groups.

Biological prerequisites (heredity)

It is noted that if the mother or father suffered from stuttering, then the child’s chance of developing logoneurosis from early childhood increases. Also, this speech disorder can be transmitted through generations if the grandparents had mild or complicated stages of the pathology.

Physiology

In most cases, somatics influences:

• the brain is functionally affected;
• there were head injuries while in the womb;
• past infectious disease;
• disorder of the autonomic nervous system, etc.

In addition, stuttering is provoked by general physical or nervous exhaustion, a weakened immune system, defects in the formation of the speech apparatus, insufficient development of motor skills, etc.

Social influence

The social factor influencing a person disturbs and changes the general internal and external state. Children suffer from disturbances in the functioning of the speech apparatus due to communication problems:

• quarrels and misunderstandings in the family;
• any aspects of education are not covered;
• do not find a common language with their peers.

Psychology

Children and adults are susceptible to psychological factors that influence their future interactions with others. Logoneurosis can develop due to:

• psychological trauma;
• acute emotional experiences (they can be both positive and negative);
• severe fear;
• psychological fatigue;
• information exhaustion;
• stressful situations, etc.

These factors depend on the person; not all life circumstances can lead to disorders and problems. If you set your priorities correctly and cope with psychological barriers, then speech disorders can certainly be avoided.

Those who stutter are most often withdrawn, which prevents them from correcting and restoring correct speech skills. Logoneurosis, which arose due to psychological reasons, is treated faster and easier.

First, the prerequisites for the onset of the problem are examined, and then a comprehensive treatment method is prescribed. Logoneurosis must not only be eliminated physiologically, the psychological causes of stuttering must be eradicated so that in the future they do not again contribute to the development of pathology.

Is it true that stuttering can return after treatment?

Stuttering is not chickenpox. There is a hexagon (hexagon) of John Harrison's stutter. As long as the system consists of 6 elements (verbal behavior, emotions, perception, belief, intention and physiological response in balance), everything is fine.

As soon as any element sags, the structure collapses and speech deteriorates. And here it is important to understand what exactly is missing in order to recreate balance and harmony. I recommend reading D. Harrison’s book “Rethinking Stuttering.”

It is important to remember that anyone can start to stutter at a moment of grief, great stress, or intense emotions. But this will pass with the situation. A person will not stutter constantly.

Statistics

Logoneurosis is considered a problem that arises more often in childhood than in adulthood. According to statistics, around one to three percent of children worldwide stutter. These statistics vary depending on location, age, and nationality.

Boys are four times more likely to develop a stutter than girls. Many people do not know what logoneurosis is and whether they have it, since the pathology can manifest itself in a milder form.

It has been proven that stuttering in adults, which they suffer from since childhood, is much more common in people who grew up in orphanages and boarding schools. It is obvious that early separation from parents and an unfavorable social climate affect the further psychological state and development of a person.

Also, people living in villages and towns are less susceptible to speech defects than those living in a metropolis. This is due to the calm environment. Adults who stutter account for only 1% of the population, which indicates the successful treatment of this pathology.

Siblings adopt this disorder in 18% of cases. Moreover, stuttering occurs in 32% of dizygotic twins, and in 77% of monozygotic twins.

Diagnosis of stuttering in children and adults

The main symptoms of the disease are the same at any age. These are hesitations that disrupt the smooth flow of speech: repetitions, protracted sounds, stops on the initial syllable. The process is accompanied by involuntary contraction of the facial muscles, tension in the arms, and an irregular breathing rhythm. Fear, anxiety, worry are the emotions that accompany stuttering.

It should be noted that at the age of 2-5 years, when a child is just learning to speak, repeated repetition of words, increased emotionality in the absence of any tension and speech that is not at all fluent is normal.

Stuttering in adults is more complex and is accompanied by anxiety, rapid heartbeat, a feeling of suffocation, and chaotic movements. Panic in crowded places, withdrawal from communication, difficult adaptation in society - all this only emphasizes the seriousness of the problem of stuttering and forces you to look for ways to overcome it in order to stop stuttering forever.

Phases of pathology development

Phase I

Stuttering with short episodes, shortening the period of smooth speech regularity. Characterized by the following symptoms:

1. Difficulty in pronunciation at the beginning of a word and when constructing a sentence.
2. Stumbling in speech occurs in the pronunciation of short parts of speech, conjunctions and particles.
3. Stuttering occurs as a result of “Communicative pressure” (excitement, a person is in a hurry to say something, etc.).
4. There is no speech phobia observed.

II phase

1. A chronic form of pathology appears.
2. Pronunciation is difficult when speaking quickly and in complex word combinations.
3. Awareness of a speech defect, but this does not interfere with normal communication.

III phase

1. Obvious convulsive syndrome. But the person does not yet perceive this as a problem.
2. Some sounds and syllables cannot be pronounced.
3. Speech inhibition, as attempts begin to replace some words with others that are less problematic.

IV phase

1. Stuttering develops into a major personal problem. The person understands that he has serious speech impairments and avoids contacts and difficult situations where communication is required. If at earlier stages words and expressions sometimes changed, now this happens all the time.
2. Anticipation - a person waits for his speech errors.
3. Chronic problem in pronouncing words. Development of fear of communication.

At what age is it more effective to treat stuttering?

– Stuttering appears in early childhood: from about 2 to 6 years. At this age it is most reasonable to begin treatment. It is important that the treatment is comprehensive: a speech therapist, a psychologist and a calm environment in the family.

I believe that the biggest mistake parents make is focusing on their child’s stuttering. Advice: accept your child absolutely anyone, involve specialists and avoid the term “Treatment”.

As a result, the person who stutters may not become an announcer, but he will definitely communicate comfortably! The main thing is to want it and exclude secondary benefits. For some reason, a person subconsciously likes to stutter.

There is something good about the millions of problems that stuttering brings. For example, the attention of loved ones. And here you need to gradually change a person’s psychology.

After all, psychology is the basis. Stuttering is just a symptom. Even if we call stuttering a disease, then any disease originates in the head.

Types of stuttering

The division concerns convulsive forms, clinical manifestations and the course of the pathology.

Convulsive forms of stuttering in adults and children have the following divisions:

• The clonic form is a short-term spasm, followed by a second similar one, which leads to involuntary repetitions of phrases and letters.
• Tonic form - long-term or short-term muscle contraction. As a result, a person does not pronounce one word for a long time.
• Mixed stuttering in the form of parallel clonic and tonic forms.

In addition, in addition to the functionality of the speech apparatus, facial expressions suffer: they may be accompanied by cramps of the facial muscles and parts of the limbs.

Course of stuttering

1. Long-term - when the defect manifests itself on a permanent basis in all words and in any situation.
2. Intermittent - some psychological situations provoke stuttering (excitement, joy).
3. Relapse - after treatment, the problem appears after some time. It doesn’t matter whether a person is cured completely or partially.

Clinical form of stuttering

Logoneurosis manifests itself in two clinical forms: neurotic and neurosis-like. Each of them has its own cause with a developing mechanism.

Neurotic stuttering

Stuttering in adults and children was not caused by birth or postpartum trauma. These are not physical disorders in the cerebral cortex. This form of disorder includes the psychological and social factors described above. With this type of pathology, the patient is easier to cure than with a neurosis-like form. The problem is mainly dealt with by a psychologist. Adults are more often susceptible to the chronic form of this pathology.

Characteristics of a person with neurotic stuttering:

• A person with a stutter is immediately visible: he is silent, timid and agitated, he invents worries, he is often offended, irritated, he is withdrawn, his far-fetched fears interfere with life. These are melancholic people.
• This patient has no physical developmental abnormalities.

Neurosis-like form

It appears unexpectedly, most often in the medical history there are birth problems. For example, the mother suffered a difficult pregnancy: complications, birth injuries. As a result, the functioning of the brain and central nervous system is disrupted, treatment takes longer, and a 100% guarantee of recovery is not always given.

Often, each part of the speech apparatus is susceptible to severe forms of convulsions. When talking, people can accompany their speech with sharp nods of the head, twitching of the hands, and contraction of the facial muscles. All this happens involuntarily.

A person gets tired after a long conversation, so such people are more silent. In addition to exhaustion, the patient complains of poor memory, orientation in space and time.

You need to work with a specialist in a comprehensive manner, taking special medications. The lengthy recovery procedure can take several years.

What should adults say?

To prevent relapses of speech disorders (and they may well occur), you as parents need to change or carefully monitor your own speech. This applies to your conversations with each other. Children actively perceive the conversation around them and unconsciously imitate it:

• Speak clearly, intelligibly, without mistakes and without rushing.
• Try to pronounce the phrase a little slower than usual.
• Avoid complex words that are incomprehensible to the baby.
• Various “scary” topics of conversation are taboo.
• It is not recommended to speak in syllables or sing phrases.

Try to get your baby to make friends with balanced children who have well-developed speech. If his speech activity is too high, artificially limit it by giving him the opportunity to silently play alone with himself for some time. Try to get your child to listen more than talk.

How does stuttering develop?

This process has not been fully studied; at the moment there is a version. Depending on the prerequisites for dysfunction of the speech apparatus, Broca's center is affected (the vocal center responsible for the work of the muscles and ligaments involved in speech). As a result of overexcitation of Broca's center, the speed of its work increases. The functioning of the so-called speech circle (Broca's center, Wernicke's area and associative center) is disrupted.

This causes a convulsive effect (tongue, lips, soft palate and others). A person develops stuttering due to impaired coordinated functions of the speech apparatus when reproducing words, syllables and phrases that are caused by a spasm. The spasm begins in one of the sections of the speech apparatus.

If Broca's center is highly overexcited, this is reflected in nearby areas of the brain. As a result, involuntary movements and spasms of the limbs, etc.

It is interesting that nerve impulses during an excited nervous system and consonant sounds (especially voiceless ones) are similar in frequency. Therefore, stuttering mainly occurs on consonants and is extremely rare on vowels.

What should parents do at home?

It is ineffective to cure logoneurosis without the help of parents at home, since the main support should come from them. Therefore, get ready for the fact that you will also have to contact a psychologist and learn from him. To correct psychological problems in a child, you need to change your daily routine and lifestyle at home. The best way to prevent stuttering is to avoid situations that make it worse.

Mode

Organize your daily routine so that periods of intellectual and emotional stress alternate with proper rest and relaxation.

Dream

Children must sleep at least 8 hours a day, so you need to organize your daily life, home space, and sound atmosphere in such a way as to ensure this minimum.

Intonation

The baby should feel the confidence and calmness coming from the parents, so you need to address him slowly, quietly, calmly, without interrupting him. It is important to explain to loved ones that this is exactly what needs to be done.

Praise

Develop your baby's self-confidence by praising him for any success. Create situations in which he could show his best side. However, praise for success should not be confused with pampering.

Situation

In family relationships, quarrels should remain prohibited. It is impossible to cure a child and prevent stuttering in an aggressive and tense atmosphere. The same applies to visiting noisy companies or places.

Leisure

Limit watching programs, movies, cartoons or games that cause emotional overstimulation. Leisure should be calm, aimed at developing creative abilities.

Communication

Gradually and delicately expand your child's social circle by inviting him to visit public places that do not evoke strong emotions. Introduce him to interesting people. They will help him adapt to the outside world.

Activity

Dosed physical activity has a positive effect on the nervous system, as well as muscle development. Therefore, physical education, swimming, running, just walking, playing in the fresh air should become the norm.

Restrictions

Under no circumstances use punishments that can have a negative impact on children's emotions (punishments should also be calm, no matter what offense the child commits). It is strictly forbidden to leave a child alone in a dark room.

Specialists

Treatments for stuttering in children and adults are similar. Depending on the determination of the cause of the speech defect, the attending physician is appointed. There are several of them, sometimes two or more specialists deal with one patient.

• A neurologist and psychiatrist prescribe medication to solve the problem of stuttering.
• The psychotherapist prescribes psychotherapy depending on the characteristics of the person: hypnotization, training.
• A psychologist studies psychosomatics and human personality. First, the patient is removed from the psychological barrier. He is trained to be in society and make decisions in stressful situations.

A speech therapist is a specialist who corrects speech in parallel with the provision of assistance by another specialist. It helps improve speech, use breathing exercises, and pronounce letters and sounds.

The goal of his therapy is not to correct incorrect pronunciation, but to help in realizing that words can be constructed easily in a sentence, regardless of pathology. The patient reduces his fear of stuttering.

An acupuncturist works to improve blood circulation. The sessions used are responsible for a specific organ; in general, the technique helps with mild stages of stuttering. Stuttering is a fairly rare occurrence and can take a long time to correct. If you start to fight the pathology in time and diagnose the correct factor in the development of the problem, then the chances of getting rid of this speech disorder increase sharply.

Other methods to get rid of stuttering

In order to get rid of such a serious illness as stuttering, it is necessary to use all available methods. Above, I tried to outline in the form of advice what needs to be done.

Here are a few more ways to combat stuttering, which, if desired, you can also apply, either with the help of specialists or on your own:

• Acupressure;
• Physiotherapeutic procedures include: mesodiencephalic modulation; electrosleep; magnetopuncture;
• Treatment with decoctions, infusions and tinctures;
• Devices and computer programs.