I can never say the word “tank”: how to stop stuttering and start living

They learn to avoid letters and syllables, recognize each other by the way they speak, and learn to laugh at their difficulties. People for whom going to a store or even a simple show is a real challenge. On October 22, the world celebrates World Stuttering Day. Muscovite Nastya L. told m24.ru how she learned to live at 100 and not consider stuttering a problem.

I started stuttering somewhere in the third grade and it happened quite unexpectedly. It was a summer day, I was walking down the street with one of my relatives and suddenly a loud bell rang out - I don’t remember what it was exactly: maybe a car horn or something else, but when we got home, I stopped talking and didn’t speak two or three days

Then I started speaking, but not as well as before - I began to stutter. My grandmother started taking me to speech therapists and psychologists, but nothing helped.

Stuttering is a neurological disease, it is accompanied by spasms of the speech apparatus, voice or respiratory tract. Not only a speech therapist and a psychologist should help overcome it, but also a neurologist who, if necessary, can prescribe medications, children’s speech therapist-defectologist Natalya Pyatibratova told m24.ru.

The help of only a speech therapist and psychologist can help correct another child speech defect - hesitation. It is similar to stuttering, but is not accompanied by spasms. The child may say “let’s go Google,” but the sounds will flow freely. In this case, most likely, he does not stutter.

This problem manifests itself in delicate, vulnerable children. Sometimes their speech apparatus cannot keep up with their thoughts and emotions. This causes stumbling. They can also be corrected with the help of a speech therapist.

There is an easy way to differentiate hesitation from stuttering. You need to ask the child to say it better - if he just stammers, then his speech will improve after the request. For a child with a stutter, the request will have the opposite effect: from fixating on the problem, it will become more difficult for him to repeat his phrase.

What is stuttering

Medicine defines the problem as a speech disorder in which a person often repeats certain words or syllables, pronounces individual sounds in a drawn-out manner, without being able to pronounce them fully. Smoothness, rhythm, and tempo of pronunciation of phrases suffer. Doctors define the disorder by the term “logoneurosis.” According to statistics, it occurs in approximately 2-3% of people, that is, quite common.

Physiological reasons include spasms and convulsions of the muscles responsible for speaking. These disturbances negatively affect breathing, the strength and pitch of spoken sounds. The physiology of this process is similar to hiccups.

Producing etiological risk factors

Producing causes are understood as “triggers” that give impetus to the appearance of speech disorders . Factors are divided into 2 groups: mental/social and depending on the physiological and anatomical structure of the body.

Detailed information is presented in the table:

Rating of the most common producing causes:

1. Experienced horror, 67.5%.
2. Physical head trauma, 27.5%.
3. Diseases of an infectious nature, 2.5%.

Stuttering can also occur as a result of imitation. The stutterer also accounts for 2.5% of speech copying, but in these cases the hereditary factor also had an influence, since stuttering was observed in one of the child’s parents. It is impossible to determine in percentage terms what role the desire to imitate played.

At what age does the problem appear?

Most often, a child encounters stuttering at the age of 3-4, when the speech apparatus and psyche are formed. However, logoneurosis can manifest itself at a later age - up to adolescence. The occurrence of a problem in adulthood is an extremely rare occurrence, as it is associated with the formation of the nervous system and speech function of the brain. And this period occurs at the age of 3-6 years. It is noteworthy that the disorder occurs much more often in boys, since the cerebral hemisphere responsible for speech develops more slowly in them.

What can cause a child to stutter?

Organic causes

A number of reasons are associated with problems of early development and organic lesions of the nervous system:

• genetic predisposition;
• injuries during childbirth;
• intrauterine development disorders;
• infections that the mother suffered during pregnancy;
• diseases associated with metabolism in a pregnant mother;
• frequent ENT diseases of a child in the first 3 years of life.

In these cases, curing stuttering in a child is problematic. After all, it is caused by physiological abnormalities in the development of the nervous system. Children may have impaired reflexes, a tendency to seizures, and surges in intracranial pressure. Problems can be corrected with the help of medications that are selected by the doctor.

Acquired reasons

Basically, they are associated with stress and neuroses, due to which the child may begin to stutter. Most often this happens at 4-5 years of age, when the nervous system is most susceptible to external factors. Doctors include these:

• strong and frequent quarrels;
• life changes (for example, starting kindergarten);
• unfavorable atmosphere in the family;
• sharp fear;
• excessive intellectual stress;
• emotional turmoil;
• disordered life, child's daily routine.

Often, a child begins to stutter during the period of mastering his native language, when parents begin to intensively engage in its development. The brain does not have time to perceive the entire mass of information, especially if learning a foreign language is also added to the native language. Therefore, during any intellectual activities with your baby, it is important not to overload him. Particular attention should be paid to emotional children.

According to statistics, more than 80% of stuttering cases have acquired causes. Such children do not have any physiological abnormalities, and speech disorders can be corrected quite well.

Who should I contact?

There are often situations when the patient himself understands that he needs the help of a specialist. However, he has no idea which doctor to see. To do this, you need to carefully monitor the symptoms and act in accordance with them:

• Cardiologist. It is worth contacting him if, along with impaired gait, there is also increased blood pressure or in the presence of diseases of the cardiovascular system.
• Neuropathologist. A neurologist is consulted if a person often experiences stress, nervous or other mental disorders.
• Traumatologist/orthopedist. You have been injured, there is pain in the muscles or joints.
• Surgeon. You should see a surgeon if you receive serious injuries.

If it is impossible to identify the symptoms on your own, you should consult a general practitioner.

Often the cause of symptoms is sought using magnetic resonance imaging. This diagnostic method allows you to identify the cause of the development of pathology, as well as make an accurate diagnosis.

Choosing a clinic is easy to do using the service. A single registration center for MRI or CT allows you to select a medical center based on specified parameters: type of examination, metro station, and also sort the search results by price, rating, work schedule.

Patients have access to online registration through the website or telephone registration with a discount on the study in the amount of up to 1,000 rubles.

How can you tell if your child has a speech disorder?

The easiest way to treat stuttering is when it is discovered at a very early stage, before the brain has yet “fixed” the speech defect, before it turns into a reflex and affects the child’s psyche. Therefore, when he turns 3-4 years old, we recommend paying attention to the following points:

• when pronouncing phrases, the child stops, breathes quickly, as if gathering strength;
• stammers, repeats the same syllables and words;
• pronounces additional sounds before the phrase (i, a, e);
• refuses to speak at all, becomes abruptly silent;
• becomes withdrawn.

Any of these symptoms is a reason to consult a doctor. The sooner you do this, the faster and without consequences the problem will be solved.

How to stop stuttering when talking and nervous: 3 tips

Tip #1: Slow down

One of the most effective ways to stop stuttering is to speak slowly. Rushing to complete a thought can cause sounds to become longer, speech to speed up, or words to be difficult to pronounce.

Taking a few deep breaths and speaking slowly can help you overcome stress-related stuttering.

Tip #2: Practice

Ask a close friend or family member to sit with you and talk. Practicing speaking in a safe environment can help you feel more at ease with yourself and the way your speech sounds.

Talking to other people who stutter can also be helpful. They can give you some tips on what helps them when speaking in public or when communicating in a group.

Tip #3: Contact a specialist

If a speech disorder prevents you from fully communicating with others, do not be afraid to seek help from a speech therapist. There is nothing to be ashamed of, and by following your doctor’s advice, you will be able to overcome the problem faster and more effectively. It is possible that thanks to this you will be able to stop stuttering forever.

• Author: Maria Minaeva

Which doctor treats stuttering?

Speech therapist

If no physiological abnormalities are found in the child, the next step is to contact a speech therapist. This specialist specializes in the correction of speech defects and will help the child learn to correctly pronounce sounds that he cannot comprehend. The speech therapist will determine the nature of stuttering - it can be tonic (drawn-out main sounds) and clonic (stutter on consonants). And then he will choose the optimal treatment method.

• It will teach you to breathe evenly so that your breathing does not falter and remains even throughout the entire phrase.
• Place pauses to save speech effort and relieve muscle spasms.
• Form sounds using the speech apparatus: larynx, tongue, teeth, lips.

The specialist works to ensure that the baby overcomes the weakness of the articulatory (speech) apparatus. To do this, the speech therapist will develop certain muscles, for example, the larynx, neck.

Psychologist

However, in most cases, its work alone is not enough. The causes of stuttering are inextricably linked with psychological problems. They need to be corrected no less than speech. Therefore, we recommend that you also contact a psychologist. Visits to this specialist may be even more effective than visits to a speech therapist.

Muscle spasms are often associated with nervous tension and an inability to relax emotionally. Therefore, this doctor will work with a stuttering child in the following areas:

• Teaches you how to behave competently in stressful situations.
• Relax and rest.
• Control your emotions.
• Overcome your fears.
• Contact with peers.
• Express yourself through creativity and communication.

There are a huge variety of methods for psychologists to work with children who stutter. For kids, this may be the development of fine motor skills, for older children - listening to recordings of their own speech with its subsequent correction.

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.

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.

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.

What to do to get rid of stuttering

Many celebrities have overcome stuttering. It is now difficult to believe that Elvis Presley, Bruce Willis, and Winston Churchill suffered from this defect. You can get rid of it forever. Your child can do this, no matter what speech defect he or she has. However, this requires serious effort, perseverance, and patience.

Here are the elements on which your success should rest:

• Emotional calm.
• Correct speech construction.
• Organization of the child's daily life.
• Thoughtful daily routine.
• Regular sessions with a speech therapist and psychologist.

The main thing is to practice regularly and not lose control of the problem.