Stuttering

Stuttering

Stuttering is often tagged as a speech disorder. Some often term it as diffluent speech or stammering. NIDCD says this disorder affects around 5 to 10% of children. All of them are found mostly between 2 to 6 years of age. People are often seen to come out of this trouble in adulthood. But there are several cases observed where people fail to recover and continue to stammer as adults. 

Possible Causes

There are whole ranges of situations that can lead to stuttering. While some of them are pretty basic, some could be a bit severe. They are:

• Family history
• Family dynamics
• Neurophysiology
• Developmental issues during childhood

Other than that, brain injuries due to a stroke can also develop neurogenic stuttering. On the other hand, emotional trauma can lead to psychogenic stuttering. Sometimes, it is found that if the parents stutter, the child tends to adopt the same disorder. 

Risk Factors

The knowledge of the following risk factors can help people prevent injuries:

• Family history
• Age at onset
• Time since onset
• Male
• Experiencing trauma or violence

Signs and Symptoms

To be precise, stuttering is classified by recurrent syllables, sounds, words, and disruptions. For instance, an individual might repeat the same consonant like “T,” “K,” or “G.” 

The stress resulting from stuttering might show up in the below-mentioned symptoms:

• Physical changes such as excessive eye blinking, facial tics, the tension in the upper body, face, and lip tremors
• Pausing or hesitating before speaking
• Denying to speak
• Interjections of additional words or sounds into sentences
• Repetition of phrases or words
• Tension in the voice
• Rearrangement of words in a sentence
• Creating long sounds with syllables or words

Diagnosis

Doctors or health professionals (speech-language pathologists) trained to evaluate or

treat patients make a diagnosis for stutter. The experts may use different or similar methods to diagnose stuttering:

• Health history evaluation
• Looking for an underlying health condition
• Knowing medical history
• Differentiation between the repetition of syllables

Treatment Options at 7DMC

We in 7DMC believe in solving issues from their root. Hence, our speech-language pathologist begins with diagnosing stuttering. There is no such requirement for invasive testing. A proper description is enough for our expert to make an idea. 

Generally, not every child requires treatment for stuttering. While it gets resolute with time, some might need the following treatments we perform:

• Speech Therapy: It helps to observe the spots where one stutters by slowing down the speech. Results are gained in this therapy quite slowly with practice.
• Electronic Devices: Few devices are prescribed that helps patients to practice and listen themselves. The more they hear themselves, the more they become attentive towards improvement. 
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: This therapy aims to inculcate a positive attitude in the patient. It helps to reduce stress and regain confidence. 
• Parent-child Interaction: Parental contribution in practicing strategies at home plays a crucial role. Our expert provides guidance specially designed as per the patient’s requirement. 

Treatment might not entirely eliminate stuttering. But we in 7DMC aim to teach skills to improve speech fluency, develop effective communication, and build self-confidence through our various therapies like occupational therapy, etc.