Stuttering: causes and treatment. Learn how to cure stuttering

The main mechanism of communication between people is speech. It allows you to interact with the world around you and manifest yourself. If something prevents a person from speaking normally, this often becomes an obstacle to a happy life. That is why it is so important to identify and begin to treat stutter in time. The reasons for this lack are very diverse and have not yet been fully understood, although there are many theories of its occurrence.

Stammering - what is it?

Hippocrates also described the disease in the 5th century BC. They suffered the legendary Demosthenes, the historian Herodotus and even the prophet Moses. The healers and alchemists for a long time tried to find a way to combat stuttering, but until the 20th century neither reasons nor adequate therapy for this defect of speech could be found. 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, the words become indistinct and intermittent, syllables or sounds are repeated, pauses are heard, and it seems that the person speaks with great difficulty. Often this causes pity, sympathy or even dislike of others, which reduces self-confidence and leads to various psychological problems in the patient.

Types of speech impairment

From a medical point of view, the mechanism of development of logoneurosis is associated with impairments that occur when a convulsion of one of the organs of the speech apparatus - tongue, palate, lips, respiratory muscles - occurs. Most often it happens in children, but in 1-3% of cases there is stammering 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 a coherent speech. Further spread of the impulse to the neighboring parts of the brain leads to the onset of convulsions of the articulatory and respiratory musculature. Outwardly this can be manifested in the form of grimaces and tics. All this happens against the background of experiences, stresses or emotional shocks.

Stammering has dissimilar symptoms with various kinds of seizures:

• Tonic . Repetition of vowel sounds and sonorous consonants, forced pauses between words.
• Clonic . Repetition of consonant sounds, syllables or even words.
• Mixed . Both manifestations of speech disorders are manifested.

There are three types of stuttering depending on the course of the disease:

• Constant.
• Wavy. The defect of speech never disappears to the end, but it shows up weaker, then stronger.
• Recurrent. Can completely disappear and reappear.

Depending on the etiology, there may be neurotic and neurosis-like stuttering. The reasons for the appearance of the first form are in stressful situations and are not associated with lesions in the brain. Neurotic stammering is easily treated, but can become chronic. Children with this form of illness begin to stutter during emotional stress.

In the second case, the disease is associated with organic lesions of the brain (hypoxia, trauma during childbirth, etc.). The neurosis-like form is difficult to treat and manifests itself regardless of the emotional state.

Diagnosis of stuttering

Sometimes delays in pronouncing words and sentences are the norm, and depend on the temperament and the features 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 pathology.
• Delays in the stuttering person last 1-30 seconds and are accompanied by a noticeable strain of the facial musculature.

Sometimes for an accurate diagnosis it is necessary to make an electroencephalogram. This will help distinguish the neurotic-like logoneurosis from the neurotic.

To make an exact diagnosis and decide how to cure stuttering, only a specialist with full-time examination will be able to, so do not look for the symptoms of the disease in yourself and your loved ones. It is better to see a doctor and find out the real causes of the logoneurosis.

Causes of stuttering in children

Often parents ask the question: "Why did the child have a stammer?" The reasons for this are very diverse, and it is extremely difficult to answer unequivocally. Children's speech begins to form when the child hears the first sound, and finishes by about five years. All this time the nervous system of the baby is in an excited state, so she receives a lot of information from all senses. The child is still weak in the articulation organs, speech, sounds and syllables are not divided, 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 provoke a child's stutter. The reasons can lie in a strong fright, threats, bullying, a bad family situation, coercion to talk or speak to an unfamiliar audience. Sometimes children start copying the conversation of stuttering friends or relatives. One way or another, most often there is a psychological etiology, but one should remember the pathological conditions that affect the nervous system: fetal hypoxia, intrauterine infection, head trauma, infectious diseases of various origins, causing organic damage to the structure of the brain.

Factors of predisposition to stuttering

Children suffering from logoneurosis become clogged and unsure of themselves, they are very hampered by stuttering. The reasons for which it arose are very important. But the development of the disease can be prevented, because there are risk factors that indicate the possible development of stuttering:

1. Tearfulness and irritability. Indicates the instability of the child's nervous system.
2. The speech developed early.
3. The child began to talk late.
4. Excessive severity and increased demands. Authoritarian attitude of parents towards children can cause psychological reasons for stuttering.
5. The habit of talking is wrong.
6. Imitation. Copying stammering with other children or close people.
7. Bilingualism. The study of two languages at once gives a very large load on the nervous system.
8. Male.
9. Left-handedness.
10. Poor health. Frequent infectious diseases, allergies and other pathologies "allocate" the child among peers, parents often pull back and forbid something. Complexes and self-doubt develop.
11. Severe pregnancy or childbirth.
12. Heredity.

A child suffering from a logoneurosis is usually very shy of his lack, so parents are required to know or at least ask how to cure stuttering. The kid is difficult to communicate with peers, he experiences discomfort and zazhatost in any performances. Children with stuttering are very withdrawn in themselves, they feel that they are different from others. They can be mocked, joked, hurried or not taken seriously. All this can lead to the development of logophobia in adolescence. To avoid this, you need to look for the cause of the defect. Their definition will help a specialist to 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?

Rarely, but one can meet stuttering in adults. The reasons for such a speech defect for a mature person are not as diverse as for a child, but are quite similar:

• Stress and other emotional turmoil. Provoke the development of a neurotic form of speech impairment. At the same logoneurosis manifests itself during anxiety, fear, emotions or when speaking before a large audience. This form of speech defect can occur once for a short period after strong experiences or shock, but eventually it passes. But there are cases when stuttering becomes chronic, and these disorders are joined by convulsions of the organs of speech and nervous tics.
• Diseases that affect the conduct of nerve impulses (cause neurosis-like stuttering): tumor processes, head injuries, stroke, neuroinfections (encephalitis, meningitis, etc.). With this form of stuttering, a 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 of fingers and swinging of the trunk. Emotions in no way affect the manifestations of these symptoms. In this case, the treatment of stuttering in adults is a very difficult task, since organic brain lesions do not respond to therapy.
• Early onset of stammering and lack of treatment.
• Male. According to statistics, women stutter 4 times less often than men.
• Hereditary factor.

Adult people who suffer from stuttering, in due course become very closed, unsure of themselves, they try to avoid all kinds of social events and collectives. One thought that one will need to talk leads them into a stupor, and this creates a vicious circle. These people quickly become tired and feel emotional exhaustion. They believe that overcoming stuttering is impossible. Often adults are embarrassed by their lack and do not turn to a specialist, remaining alone with their problem. If you do not engage in treatment, it can lead to serious depression and mental disorders.

Where to treat logoneurosis?

Finding a stammer in his or her 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, it is worth turning to a neurologist. It will help to identify the most important component in order to overcome stuttering - the reasons. Treatment should be comprehensive, so you can not 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 psychotherapist. He not only prescribes medicines, but also treats patients with therapeutic conversations - hypnosis, auto-training and so on.

A speech therapist is also on the list of doctors who help the stammering person cope with his problems. This specialist teaches the patient to control his breathing and articulatory muscles, speak fluently and rhythmically. He explains to a person that it is possible to pronounce words with ease. Appeal to the acupuncture therapist is accompanied by procedures with activation of certain biologically active points with the help of needles and helps to relieve tension and improve blood circulation in the brain. Do not interfere with the practice of physical therapy with a personal instructor.

Only coordinated work of all specialists and a great desire of the patient will ensure the elimination of stuttering finally.

Methods of combating speech disorders in children

As soon as the first symptoms of stuttering were discovered, it is worthwhile immediately contacting specialists. The optimal age for starting a fight with a disorder is 2-4 years. It is better that the baby goes to first grade without logoneurosis, but it's never too late to go to doctors. If the child is 10-16 years of age, then with treatment, it is worthwhile to wait, since this time in the life of the schoolchild is accompanied by a willfulness and denial of everything around him. There are many methods and complex programs to combat this speech defect. The main thing you need to know in order to eliminate stammering in children is the reasons. Treatment entirely depends on them.

With neurotic disorders, the child is shown courses of psychotherapy and classes with a speech therapist. If the stammer 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 with parents are conducted to reduce the negative impact on the health of the child. Often children are prescribed tranquilizing drugs - "Diazepam", "Medazepam" and others to relieve the nervous system, and to eliminate muscle cramps - "Midokalm." In addition, physiotherapy procedures are carried out: electrosleep, acupuncture, swimming with dolphins and so on.

Children suffering from a neurotic-like form of stammering are treated by neurologists, speech therapists and psychologists. In this case, the child is prescribed drugs that increase blood circulation in the brain and improve his work - "Nootropil", "Noofen", "Encephabol", some homeopathic drugs. All this in a complex work with other doctors will give a positive result.

There are very diverse methods of treating stuttering, which are used in speech therapy:

• The methodology of Vygodskaya IG, Pellinger EL and Uspenskaya LP
• The methodology of LN Smirnov.
• The method of VM Shklovsky and others.

On average, the treatment can take from several weeks to several months, depending on the severity of the logoneurosis, the reasons and efforts of the parents and the child. Classes can be conducted either with a group or individually.

Parents should not pull back and force them to say "right" to the crumbs. It can only do harm, because it is not easy for a child to cope with his problem. We need to ensure peace in the house, so as not to overstrain his nervous system. To help doctors parents should wean the child from viewing cartoons and computer games; Provide an 8-hour sleep; Limit consumption of sweet, fatty, spicy food; Attract the attention of the baby to calm games; To take walks in quiet places; Not to ask to retell something; Speak with the crumb slowly and smoothly. The mutual efforts of both sides will ultimately succeed.

How to treat logoneurosis in adult patients?

Treatment of stuttering in adults, as well as in children, is carried out in a complex manner. The patient can be prescribed anticonvulsant and sedatives, which help relieve spasms and overexcitation, but do not affect the etiology of this speech defect.

Complex treatment of the therapist and speech therapist very effectively copes with the problem. The first one allows the patient to experience his problem during conversations or when he is put into a hypnosis state. He gives autotrenings to the patient so that he can deal with his problem on his own. Speech therapist provides correction of speech, breathing, voice and articulation, testing the results in conversation and reading, as well as in stressful situations. The most well-known method for treating stuttering in adults is the technique of LZ Arutyunyan.

Naturally, every person who suffers from speech disorders wants to cure stuttering. The reasons for this are very weighty. After a stammering person feels insecure, can not communicate without constraint, is closed and lonely. It breaks life and prevents you from working fully, resting, making acquaintances. Therefore it is very important to cure the logoneurosis even before such problems arose. Also popular is acupuncture and acupuncture. Positive effect on getting rid of a speech defect is therapeutic exercise.

Is it possible to cure stuttering at home?

Of course, many want to know how to cure stammering, not referring to doctors. On many resources you can find recipes of decoctions of herbs and essential oils that will help to cope with this problem. Perhaps the soothing effect of the herbs will have a positive effect on the nervous system of the patient, but it is unlikely to relieve him of the logoneurosis. Also on the Internet are recommended conspiracies and prayers from stuttering. These methods are unproven and based only on the belief of a person.

However, treatment of stuttering at home is possible, if it is active assistance to the doctor: exercises, methods, the right way of life. Stuttering is, indeed, a serious problem, so do not neglect medical help. And then the recovery will not be far off.