The main mechanism of communication between people is speech. It provides an opportunity to interact with the outside world and to express oneself. If something prevents a person from speaking normally, it often becomes an obstacle to a happy life. That is why it is so important to identify and begin to treat stuttering in time. The reasons for this drawback are very diverse and not yet fully understood, although there are many theories of its occurrence.
Stuttering - what is it?
Hippocrates himself in the V century BC described this disease. The legendary Demosthenes, the historian Herodotus, and even the prophet Moses suffered from it. For a long time, doctors and alchemists tried to find a way to combat stuttering, but until the 20th century they could not find any reason or adequate therapy for this speech impairment. Only with the advent of the science of speech therapy did doctors and scientists come to grips with the study of this disease and finally formulated what it is.
Stuttering is characterized by a violation of the smoothness of speech and its pace, words become slurred and intermittent, syllables or sounds are repeated, forced pauses are heard, and it seems that a person speaks with great difficulty. Often this causes pity, sympathy or even hostility among others, which reduces self-confidence and leads to various psychological problems in the patient.
Speech Disorders
From a medical point of view, the mechanism of development of logoneurosis is associated with disorders that occur during the cramp of one of the organs of the speech apparatus - the tongue, palate, lips, respiratory muscles. Most often this happens in children, but in 1-3% of cases stuttering occurs in adults. The reasons for this complex process lie in the overexcitation of the Broca zone in the brain. This center is responsible for controlling the muscles of the face, pharynx, tongue and other organs that provide coherent speech. Further propagation of the impulse to neighboring parts of the brain leads to the occurrence of convulsions of the articulatory and respiratory muscles. Outwardly, this can manifest itself in the form of grimaces and teak. All this happens against the background of experiences, stress or emotional upheaval.
Stuttering has unlike symptoms in various types of seizures:
- Tonic . Repetition of vowels and sonorous consonants, forced pauses between words.
- Clonic . Repetition of consonants, syllables or even words.
- Mixed . Both these and other speech disorders are manifested.
Three types of stuttering are distinguished depending on the course of the disease:
- Permanent.
- Wavy. A speech defect never disappears to the end, but it is manifested either weaker or stronger.
- Recurrent. It may completely disappear and reappear.
Depending on the etiology, there may be a neurotic and neurosis-like stutter. The causes of the first form lie in stressful situations and are not associated with lesions in the brain. Neurotic stuttering is easily treated, but can become chronic. Children with this form of the disease begin to stutter during emotional stress.
In the second case, the disease is associated with organic brain lesions (hypoxia, trauma during childbirth, etc.). The neurosis-like form is difficult to treat and manifests itself regardless of the emotional state.
Stuttering diagnosis
Sometimes delays in pronouncing words and sentences are the norm, and depend on the temperament and characteristics of the conversation. There are two tests to determine this:
- If the number of breaks in 100 words is less than 7%, then this is the norm. More than 10% is a pathology.
- Delays in a stuttering person last 1-30 seconds and are accompanied by a noticeable tension in the facial muscles.
Sometimes, to make the correct diagnosis, it is necessary to make an electroencephalogram. This will help distinguish a neurosis-like neurosis from a neurosis.
An accurate diagnosis and deciding how to cure stuttering can only be done by a specialist during an internal examination, so you should not look for symptoms of the disease in yourself and loved ones. It is better to consult a doctor and find out the real causes of logoneurosis.
Causes of stuttering in children
Often parents ask the question: “Why did the child stutter?” The reasons for this are very diverse, and it is extremely difficult to unequivocally give an answer. Children's speech begins to form when the child hears the first sound, and ends by about five years old. All this time, the baby’s nervous system is in an excited state, so she receives a lot of information from all the senses. The child's organs of articulation are still weak, speech, sounds and syllables are not separated, and sometimes he just does not have time to perceive everything. Because of this, an unequal system can fail.
Approximately 0.7–9% of children suffer from stuttering. This diagnosis can be made at the age of 3-4 years. Usually, the disease is most pronounced in preschool children. There are many situations that can trigger childhood stuttering. The reasons may lie in severe fright, threats, bullying, poor family conditions, compulsion to speak or speak in front of an unfamiliar audience. Sometimes children begin to copy the conversation of stuttering friends or relatives. One way or another, psychological etiology most often occurs, but one should remember the pathological conditions that affect the nervous system: fetal hypoxia, intrauterine infection, head injuries, infectious diseases of various origins that cause organic damage to the structure of the brain.
Stuttering factors
Children suffering from logoneurosis, become clogged and insecure, they stutter very much. The reasons why it arose are very important. But the development of the disease can be prevented, since there are risk factors that indicate a possible development of stuttering:
- Tearfulness and irritability. Indicates the instability of the children's nervous system.
- Speech developed early.
- The child began to speak late.
- Excessive rigor and increased demands. The authoritarian attitude of parents towards children can cause psychological causes of stuttering.
- The habit of talking wrong.
- Imitation. Copy stuttering for other children or loved ones.
- Bilingualism. Studying two languages at once gives a very big load on the nervous system.
- Male.
- Left handedness.
- Poor health. Frequent infectious diseases, allergies and other pathologies “distinguish” the child from their peers, parents often pull out and forbid something. Complexes and self-doubt develop.
- Severe pregnancy or childbirth.
- Heredity.
A child suffering from logoneurosis is usually very shy of his lack, so parents are required to know or at least ask how to cure stuttering. It is difficult for a kid to communicate with peers; he feels discomfort and constriction at any performance. Children with stuttering are very closed in themselves, they feel that they are different from others. They can be mocked, joked, rushed or not taken seriously. All this can lead to the development of logophobia in adolescence. To avoid this, you need to look for the causes of the defect. Their definition will help the specialist prescribe rational therapy. Do not forget that the treatment of stuttering at home and constant work on yourself and your speech give good results.
Why do adults stutter?
Quite rarely, but stuttering can be found in adults. The reasons for such a speech defect for a mature person are not as diverse as for a child, but they are very similar:
- Stress and other emotional upheavals. They provoke the development of a neurotic form of speech impairment. At the same time, a logoneurosis appears during anxiety, fear, anxiety or when speaking to a large audience. This form of speech impairment can occur once for a short period after strong feelings or shock, but over time it passes. But there are cases when stuttering becomes chronic, and spasms of the organs of speech and nervous tics join these disorders .
- Diseases that affect the conduct of nerve impulses (cause neurosis-like stuttering): tumor processes, head injuries, stroke, neuroinfection (encephalitis, meningitis, etc.). With this form of stuttering, convulsive syndrome of the muscles of the face and respiratory muscles is pronounced. People with this type of disorder can perform characteristic nodding movements of the head, fingering and rocking the body. Emotions do not affect the manifestations of these symptoms. In this case, treating stuttering in adults is a very difficult task, because organic brain damage is not amenable to therapy.
- Early onset of stuttering and lack of treatment.
- Male. According to statistics, women stutter 4 times less often than men.
- Hereditary factor.
Adult people who suffer from stuttering over time become very withdrawn, insecure, they try to avoid all kinds of social events and groups. One thought that they will need to talk leads them into a stupor, and this creates a vicious circle. These people quickly get tired and feel emotional exhaustion. They believe that overcoming stuttering is impossible. Often adults are embarrassed by their lack and do not go to a specialist, being alone with their problem. If left untreated, this can lead to serious depression and mental disorders.
Where to treat logoneurosis?
If you stutter in yourself or your child, it is very important to know where and to whom to contact. This is a rather complex disorder, the treatment of which requires a lot of time and patience, as well as the coordinated work of several specialists and the patient himself.
First of all, you should contact a neurologist. It will help to identify the most important component to overcome stuttering - causes. The treatment should be comprehensive, so it will not be possible to do without the help of a psychiatrist. Both specialists can prescribe the medication part of the treatment. Another doctor whose knowledge may be needed is a therapist. He not only prescribes medicines, but also treats patients with therapeutic conversations - hypnosis, auto-training, etc.
A speech therapist is also on the list of doctors who help stuttering a stuttering person with his problems. This specialist teaches the patient to control his breathing and articulatory muscles, to speak smoothly and rhythmically. He explains to the person that words can be pronounced with ease. A call to an acupuncturist is accompanied by procedures with the activation of certain biologically active points with the help of needles and helps to relieve tension and improve blood circulation in the brain. Occupation with physiotherapy exercises with a personal instructor will not hurt.
Only the coordinated work of all specialists and the great desire of the patient will ensure the elimination of stuttering completely.
Methods of dealing with speech disorders in children
As soon as the first symptoms of stuttering were discovered, you should immediately contact a specialist. The optimal age for starting the fight against the disorder is 2-4 years. It is better for the baby to go to first grade without logoneurosis, however, it is never too late to consult doctors. If the child is 10-16 years old, then it is worthwhile to wait a while with treatment, since this time in the life of a school student is accompanied by self-will and denial of everything around him. There are many methods and comprehensive programs to combat this speech impairment. The main things you need to know in order to eliminate stuttering in children are the reasons. Treatment entirely depends on them.
With neurotic disorders, the child is shown psychotherapy courses and classes with a speech therapist. If stuttering was caused by shock, then the silence mode will help. When the conflict is chronic and caused by an unfavorable situation within the family, discussions are held with parents to reduce the negative impact on the health of the child. Often, children are prescribed tranquilizing drugs - Diazepam, Medazepam and others to relieve nervous system excitement, and to eliminate facial muscle cramps - Midokalm. In addition, physiotherapeutic procedures are carried out: electrosleep, acupuncture, swimming with dolphins and more.
Children suffering from a neurosis-like form of stuttering are treated by neurologists, speech therapists and psychologists. In this case, the child is prescribed drugs that enhance blood circulation in the brain and improve his work - Nootropil, Noofen, Encephabol, and some homeopathic medicines. All this in a comprehensive work with other doctors will give a positive result.
The stuttering treatment methods used in speech therapy are very diverse:
- Methodology Vygodskaya I. G., Pellinger E. L. and Uspenskaya L. P.
- The methodology of L. N. Smirnov.
- The methodology of V.M. Shklovsky and others.
On average, treatment can take from several weeks to several months, depending on the severity of logoneurosis, causes and efforts on the part of parents and the child. Classes can be held both with the group and individually.
Parents should not pull and force the baby to say "right." This can only do harm, because it’s not easy for a child to cope with his problem. It is necessary to ensure calm in the house so as not to overstrain his nervous system. To help doctors, parents must wean the child from watching cartoons and computer games; provide an 8-hour sleep; limit the intake of sweet, oily, spicy foods; to draw the attention of the baby to calm games; take walks in quiet places; Do not ask to retell something; speak with crumbs slowly and smoothly. The mutual efforts of both parties will ultimately be crowned with success.
How to treat logoneurosis in adult patients?
Treatment of stuttering in adults, as well as in children, is carried out comprehensively. The patient may be prescribed anticonvulsants and sedatives, which help relieve spasms and overexcitation, but do not affect the etiology of this speech defect.
Comprehensive treatment with a psychotherapist and speech therapist very effectively copes with the problem. The first allows the patient to feel their problem during conversations or when introduced into a state of hypnosis. He gives autotraining to the patient so that he can independently cope with his problem. Speech therapist provides speech correction, breath, voice and articulation, working out the results in conversation and reading, as well as in stressful situations. The most famous method for the treatment of stuttering in adults is the method of L.Z. Harutyunyan.
Naturally, every person who suffers from speech disorders wants to cure stuttering. The reasons for this are very good. After all, a stuttering person feels insecure, cannot communicate without hesitation, is closed and lonely. It breaks life and makes it difficult to fully work, relax, make friends. Therefore, it is very important to cure logoneurosis even before such problems have arisen. Acupuncture and acupuncture are also popular. Physical therapy has a positive effect on getting rid of a speech impediment.
Can stuttering be cured at home?
Of course, many people want to know how to cure stuttering without going to the doctors. On many resources, you can find recipes for decoctions of herbs and essential oils that will help to cope with this problem. Perhaps the sedative effect of herbs will have a positive effect on the patient’s nervous system, but is unlikely to relieve him of logoneurosis. Also on the Internet, conspiracies and prayers from stuttering are recommended. These methods are unproven and are based only on human faith.
However, the treatment of stuttering at home is possible if it is an active contribution to the doctor: exercises, techniques, the right way of life. Stuttering is indeed a serious problem, so do not neglect medical help. And then recovery will be just around the corner.