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The Basics For Helping Child Stutters

By Leslie Ball


Stuttering, which may also be called stammering, refers to a problem with speech that affects people young and old. This term describes a disorder of speech that interrupts the flow of speech, often leading to repetition, or prolongations of sounds, syllables, phrases or words. There may be pauses or blocks caused by the stutterer being incapable of producing any sound. Parents or guardians who notice a child stutters are encouraged to get them the professional help they need as soon as possible to manage or treat this disorder.

There are signs to look for when trying to diagnose this issue. In generally, these are discovered by breaking down the speech fluency of a person. It is common for stutterers to repeat words, sounds, phrases or syllables. They might also have periods of silence in communication and are known to prolong various sounds. These are not common behaviors for people without stammering issues. Severity of a stammer will range by person and might even be inconsistent in an individual.

Stuttering may be difficult for people to handle, especially young kids. Children are often teased for things they cannot change and this is common for those with speech difficulty. Stutterers frequently experience feelings of guilt, shame, embarrassment, fear, frustration and anger all because of their speech problems. This may lead to a negative self-image and anti-social behaviors. Not wanting to communicate with others is problematic because social interaction is essential to the development of a child.

There is no single cause associated with this developmental disorder, just theories and hypotheses. Still, solid evidence is available to support the theory that is linked to genetics. Children with close family members who stutter are more likely to develop the issue. However, some who stammer have no family history of it. The issue may be more present in kids with concomitant motor, language, learning or speech problems.

Before any type of treatment is provided, people need to be individually assessed to determine their condition. Sometimes stammered speech is difficult to diagnose because it requires the knowledge and skills of speech-language pathologists or SLPs. There is no absolute cure for most. Still, plenty of solutions can be used to help people maintain control over their speech.

A lot of treatments are based around teaching methods that aid in reducing stuttering by breath regulation, talk speed reduction, and working on single syllables to long words and complex sentences. Certain therapies are used to limit any anxiety that might develop because of these speech problems. Sometimes anxiety becomes so overwhelming that it makes the stammering worse.

SLPs are ideal professionals to work with in these situations. They help patients in controlling and monitoring their speech. Those who learn to speak at a slower pace and without physical tension are more likely to see improvements in their stuttering. They might also learn new approaches to breathing, including those necessary for regulating it. Other options used for treating this disorder: diaphragmatic breathing, modification therapy, support, electronic fluency devices and medication.

All people will require their own solutions and see results manifest in a different way. It might take time before improvements are noticeable. Still, people should remain optimistic and in compliance with SLP orders. Stutterers may be faced with more obstacles because of their speech issues, which is why kids should be correctly diagnosed and treated early.




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