Stuttering in children, the causes and treatment of which are actual problems of many families, often begins to occur at the age of 2-5 years, when speech is actively formed. This defect is manifested in the violation of the correct speech rhythm, tempo, involuntary pauses during the statement of thoughts, repetition of individual sounds, syllables or letters.
Stammering in children causes
In the presence of speech disorders it is very important to find out why the child stutters, although this is in many cases not easy. First of all, it is worthwhile to understand that such a deviation is caused not by the pathology of the speech apparatus itself, but by a violation in the central nervous system. It has been established that boys tend to be defective, and about 1% of adults suffer from constant stuttering that developed in childhood.
There are two main forms of stammering in children, the causes and treatment of which are somewhat different:
- organic - constant stammering associated with articulatory seizures;
- functional - recurrent or undulating stuttering, at which convulsions of respiratory, less often - vocal muscles occur.
If the child began to stutter, the following factors could provoke it:
- birth trauma;
- exposure to toxic substances during pregnancy (smoking, occupational hazards, poisoning with poisonous gases, etc.);
- intrauterine infections;
- fetal hypoxia ;
- premature delivery;
- infectious diseases of the brain (encephalitis, meningitis, etc.);
- head trauma;
- sudden strong fright (due to dog attack, inadequate behavior of parents, watching a horror film, etc.);
- excessive workload of teaching material from an early age;
- forcible retraining of left-handedness;
- delay in speech development due to lack of communication, lack of attention;
- a sharp change in the usual situation with excessive sensitivity of the child (moving, moving to another educational institution, divorcing parents, etc.)
- genetic predisposition.
The child began to stammer - what to do?
In many situations, the problem disappears by itself as the baby grows up, but do not rely on luck and waste valuable time, because at an early stage, speech defects are more easily amenable to correction. This especially applies to situations where the child strongly stutters, accompanied by increased gesticulation, there are problems in teaching, communication, affecting the full development.
The child stutters - to which doctor to apply?
Examination of stuttering children is conducted by doctors of several specialties:
- neurologist - will help to establish the form of the disease, assign the necessary studies to assess the state of the brain and central nervous system crumbs (rheoencephalography, electroencephalography, brain MRI, etc.);
- psychologist - will identify the possible emotional-psychological, stressful traumatic factors that caused the defect;
- speech therapist - through special tests will determine the nature and extent of speech disorders, examines the speech device;
- pediatrician - will establish the level of physical and mental-emotional development of the child, as well as the correspondence of these characteristics to the age norms.
Each specialist studies anamnesis, finds out when and under what circumstances stuttering occurred. A small patient must undergo hearing testing, an examination of the lexico-grammatical part of speech. Associated disorders are identified, for which complex diagnostics of the organism may be required. In addition, it is required to know how the child himself refers to his deviation.
Is it possible to cure a stutter in a child?
Having discovered that the child stutters, you can not postpone the solution of the problem, you should begin treatment until the defect is strengthened. Do not use self-treatment, tk. Without defining the type of speech disorder and provoking factors, one can only aggravate the situation. Parents who have a child stuttering, you need to create their own rules of communication with him, correct the way of life, their behavior, in order to create the most comfortable conditions for the baby to heal. Here are the main recommendations:
- observance of daily routine, diet, sleep and rest;
- maintaining a calm climate in the family;
- fencing the child from strong physical exertion, stress factors;
- the exclusion of computer games, frequent watching TV;
- You can not criticize a child for improper pronunciation, adjust his speech, laugh, etc .;
- talking with the child, you need to watch your own speech, which should not be fast, clear, calm;
- The baby must be as often as possible in the children's team.
Treatment of stuttering in children
How to treat stuttering in children and by what means, is determined individually in each specific case. Often, stuttering in children, the causes and treatment of which are different, requires an integrated approach with the use of medicinal techniques, physiotherapy procedures, speech therapy exercises, psychotherapeutic practices, special computer programs, etc.
Respiratory gymnastics with stuttering in children - exercises
When the child stutters, what to do, the doctor will tell after establishing the causes and accompanying pathologies. Often the satellites of speech convulsions are the weakness of the diaphragmatic muscle and improper breathing, for the adjustment of which special breathing exercises are used when stammering in children. The performed complex helps to put the breath, improve the blood supply to the brain.
Let's consider some more exercises:
- Standing with your hands down, bend forward, making your back round and head down. At the end of the slope make a noisy breath, rise and exhale.
- Standing straight, bend your arms in the elbows and lower them down, and open your palms upwards. At the inhalation, squeeze the palms into fists, unclench on a noiseless exhalation.
- Standing straight, feet shoulder-width apart. Tilt your head to the left, then to the right, pressing your ear to your shoulder and breathing in at the same time. Watch straight.
Lessons for stuttering children
Stammering in children is well amenable to adjustment by logorithmic techniques, including:
- muscle relaxation;
- articulatory exercises;
- singing;
- game on simple musical instruments.
In addition, it is useful to learn rhymes with a clear rhythm, tongue twisters, making stories on a series of pictures. All classes are held in a playful way, in a trustworthy friendly atmosphere. Techniques for getting rid of stuttering include the regularity of classes, the gradual complication of tasks.
Massage with stuttering in children
When solving this problem, doctors recommend that you massage the shoulder girdle and the collar area to relax, eliminate spasms. Sessions are held four times a year, courses of 10-12 procedures. Having performed the first course of massage with a specialist and mastered the main massage techniques, it is further possible to treat stuttering in children at home. Benefits and brings point massage with an impact on the active points in the area of the face and back.
Drug treatment for stuttering in children
Defining how to cure the stammering of a child against a background of severe brain pathology or serious mental disorders, doctors prescribe medications. These can be preparations of the following groups:
- tranquilizers (Mebikar);
- anticonvulsant (Phenibut, Epileptal);
- antispasmodics ( Midokalm , Amizil);
- nootropic ( Actovegin , Piracetam);
- soothing (extract of valerian, motherwort).