If suddenly the child began to repeat syllables, hardly pronounces the word, is embarrassed by this and blushes, parents are upset, because they can not really understand a word from the speech of the crumbs. Yes, and the kid himself it delivers a lot of unpleasant minutes, he closes in himself and generally refuses to talk. And then the parents begin to think about how to save the child from stuttering.
What is stuttering?
Stuttering is a violation of smoothness, pace, rhythm of speech, in which repetition, hesitation, and stretching of sounds and syllables occur due to muscle spasms of the speech apparatus. It is important to distinguish at once with the appearance of stutter in children symptoms, in time to consult a doctor:
- repetition of the first syllable in a word or a whole word in a phrase;
- pronunciation of unnecessary sounds before a single word;
- hesitations before the beginning of speech;
- stop in the middle of the phrase.
Stammering in children: causes
Stammering in children occurs for a variety of reasons. Sometimes this speech defect arises from an infectious disease - for example, scarlet fever, influenza, whooping cough, neurological disorders during birth trauma. Often, the causes of stuttering in children are the transferred psychological shocks, for example, after the loss of loved ones, because of fear of darkness, loneliness. Often, the parents' inattention to the correctness of the child's speech, excessive rigor in upbringing, and copying the speech of the stuttering adult relative often leads to stammering.
How to treat stammering in children?
In the treatment of this speech defect, you should not rely on the fact that it will pass by itself. Need help specialist - speech therapist. Ask the doctor should be as soon as possible, because it depends on the success of the entire treatment. At the reception, the speech therapist will ask questions about the peculiarities of the child's speech development, send him to a consultation with a neurologist to exclude the neurological factor of stuttering or to a psychologist.
An integrated approach is important in how to wean a child from stuttering. So, for example, with drug treatment of stuttering in children, a neuropathologist is prescribed soothing drugs to relieve spasm of the speech apparatus, as well as agents that have a sedative effect on the psyche.
Speech therapist will be conducted classes, group and individual. To correct stuttering in children, respiratory gymnastics is important, so that the diaphragm will strengthen, and vocal cords will develop. The specialist will also teach the child the correct and precise articulation of sounds, smooth and expressive speech, control its tempo and rhythm.
In therapy, it is important to take into account the psychological characteristics of children with stuttering. The psychotherapist will contribute to the improvement of the child's psyche, helping to overcome the feeling of fear, depression, fixation and inferiority due to speech defect, raising self-esteem. Typically, for young children, the doctor conducts classes using games, didactic materials, music. In the treatment of adolescents, hypnosis and autosuggestion techniques are used.
To the methods of treatment of stammering in children is the point massage, which contributes to the strengthening of the nervous regulation of speech. Also special computer programs are created. The child utters words and phrases into the microphone, and the computer reproduces the said slowly and smoothly with a second slowdown. Due to this, the crumb adjusts to the recording of the computer, and his speech improves.
No less important role in the treatment of stammering in the child is given to parents who must create a favorable environment in the home where the beloved child will feel confident and calm. Parents need to follow the child's speech, calmly correct it, and control their own.