Parents, looking at their children, rejoice at their successes and achievements. It seems that everything is going its own way, and suddenly the child began to stutter. The first thing that immediately comes to mind: the baby is just playing around. Well, if so, what if these are the first signs of a big problem?
Types of stuttering
But first, what it is. Logoneurosis is a speech defect, which manifests itself in a violation of the rhythm, rate of breathing. This pathology is associated with clamping of various parts of the speech apparatus. It is most commonly seen in children between the ages of two and five. It is this period that is the peak of speech development.
Types of logoneurosis depend on the causes:
- Physiological stuttering. Associated with previous diseases: complications caused by encephalitis, birth injuries, organic disorders of the subcortical parts of the brain, overwork, exhaustion of the nervous system.
- Psychic. It is a consequence of fright, fear, mental trauma, stress, correction of left-handedness.
- Social. This type is most often the reason why a child began to stutter at 4 years old. The factors contributing to the appearance of logoneurosis include: overload with speech material, inattentionparents, excessive severity and severity in education, imitation of peers.
Forms of stuttering
To understand what and how to get rid of, you should study your "enemy". Find out what are the forms of stuttering.
Similar to speech spasms
- Clonic - repetition of individual sounds, syllables or words.
- Tonic - long pauses in conversation, stretching sounds. The child's face is very tense, the mouth is tightly closed or half open.
Clonic and tonic forms can occur in the same person.
Inspiratory stuttering appears on inspiration. Expiratory - on exhalation.
2. Due to the appearance of pathology.
- Evolutionary. Appears in children between two and six years of age.
- Symptomatic. May occur at any age. The cause is diseases of the central nervous system, such as traumatic brain injury, epilepsy and others.
Let's talk about the types of evolutionary stuttering in more detail and start with…
Neurotic
If a child began to stutter at the age of 2, most likely, he was influenced by factors of a neurotic nature. Of course, not only at this age, children are prone to this pathology for neurotic reasons. This age lasts up to six years.
During this period, the development of speech motor functions correspond to age or may be slightly ahead of it. During emotions, at the beginning of a conversation, children can noticeclonic convulsions. The kid refuses to communicate or is very worried before the performance. In addition, there are such symptoms as anxiety, capriciousness, fear, mood variability, impressionability.
Intensification of these signs occurs when overtired.
Such children are very difficult to get used to the new team, especially in kindergarten. But this does not prevent them from communicating with peers and adults.
Children with neurotic stuttering are always fidgety and inaccurate in small movements. They are perfectly oriented in space, they have well-developed fine motor skills.
Neurosis-like
The reason is the disruption of the brain. Such kids get tired very quickly, they get annoyed over trifles and look “unassembled”. Some of them may have a traffic disorder.
If a child began to stutter at the age of 3, and his behavior corresponds to the above symptoms, this can be attributed to psychological trauma that arose during the intensive development of speech.
Stuttering gradually gets worse. This is especially noticeable if the child has had a disease or is very tired. Speech and motor functions develop on time or with a slight delay.
Children do not worry about their illness. The situation in which they may find themselves or the environment does not have any effect on the frequency of stuttering.
Such children gesticulate a lot, they have a poorly developed sense of rhythm. During a conversation, unusual facial movements may appear.
Reasons
The child began to stutter, what should I do? This is the first questionthat worries parents. But before answering it, you should understand the cause of the appearance of this disorder. Most often, this may be a violation of the interaction between articulatory movements and the speech center. Sometimes the baby's thoughts can get ahead of the motor apparatus. And the reason for this are the following factors:
- Emotional stress. Fright, anxiety, fear and even positive emotions.
- Diseases suffered in early childhood. Such as typhus, whooping cough, measles, diseases of the throat, larynx, nose.
- Head injury or bruising.
- Excessive mental activity.
- Birth trauma or stress experienced by a pregnant woman.
- Abnormal psycho-emotional situation in the family.
- Imitation of peers.
Now we will consider each of the factors influencing speech in groups. Let's talk in more detail about why the child began to stutter. Consider internal and external factors.
Brain dysfunction
What causes this pathology? Most often, these difficulties are associated with genetic changes. If the child began to stutter as soon as he spoke, most likely you need to look for problems in the brain. The factors that cause pathology include:
- infections in utero;
- heredity;
- fetal oxygen starvation;
- birth injury;
- preterm birth.
External factors
Ifthe child began to stutter at the age of 4 or a little earlier, then the reasons should be sought in the external environment. The problem could appear due to the fault of the following factors:
- Infections of the central nervous system. We are talking about meningitis and encephalitis.
- Brain injury. It could be a concussion or a bruise.
- The large hemispheres of a child are not yet functionally mature. Stuttering for this reason goes away without medical intervention.
- Lack of insulin (diabetes mellitus).
- Upper airway and ear problems.
- Diseases leading to weakening of the body.
- Associated ailments: nightmares, enuresis, fatigue.
- Psychological trauma: fear, stress and others.
- Parents speak quickly, which contributes to the incorrect formation of the child's speech.
- Wrong upbringing. The child is either spoiled too much, or too much is demanded of him.
- Imitation of peers and adults.
External factors include the situation in the family. If the baby is well with mom and dad, he feels the care of his parents, then he will not have problems with speech. If everything happens the other way around, then the child will be pinched from frequent conflicts, and stuttering will appear.
The child began to stutter sharply
If you find that the child suddenly began to stutter, psychological trauma is most likely to blame. Maybe someone scared him, or maybe he received a large amount of information that he could not “sort out.”
If youIf you think that the reason for this state of the baby is a visit to a kindergarten, then leave the child at home for a few days. Practice breathing exercises with him. This contributes to the formation of smooth speech without jumps. Be sure to visit a few massage sessions with your child.
If a child only sometimes tries to insert an extra syllable or sound into a word during a conversation, then you should not worry yet. The kid is experimenting. If such experiments have become a frequent occurrence, then it's time to go to a specialist.
If no more than two months have passed since the first stuttering, then the effect of the treatment will come earlier. This period is considered the initial stage.
Child is three years old
The child began to stutter at the age of 3, what should I do in this case? The main thing is not to panic and follow the following recommendations:
- Try to make your baby talk less. Be sure to answer his questions, but do not ask him yourself.
- If possible, refuse to attend kindergarten. Do not take your baby to visit, avoid large crowds, prohibit your child from watching cartoons.
- Give preference to board games, drawing. These activities will help develop fine motor skills. To calm the nervous system, the child can sing to slow music and dance.
- Contact the experts. Classes with a speech therapist and a visit to a neurologist will come in handy.
- Don't point out to your child the incorrect pronunciation of a word. He can get stuck, and the situation will get out of control. Try to speak for yourselffluently and do not make mistakes in words during the conversation.
Baby is four years old
Child is 4 years old. Started to stutter, what to do? And again the same advice - no panic. The kid will look at you, understand that something is wrong with him, and begin to worry. This is not necessary at this time.
In preschool institutions from the age of four they give so much information that the brain of a small child "bursts" from overload. The kid from the kindergarten comes very tired. The result of the situation is a violation of speech. If there is a problem, try:
- Stay outdoors with your child every day.
- Don't let him watch TV, play computer games.
- It is advisable not to take him to kindergarten.
- Follow the routine. The baby should go to bed on time in the evening and be sure to rest during the day.
- Create a normal family atmosphere for your child. Stuttering can return after any stressful situation.
- Be sure to visit specialists: a speech therapist and a neurologist.
Advice from a psychologist
The child began to stutter? Don't worry, everything can be fixed. Listen to the advice of a psychologist:
- If your baby is having trouble talking, be sure to make eye contact with him.
- Never interrupt the baby. Let him finish his speech.
- Try to speak slowly yourself. Stop after every question you ask.
- Talk to your child only in short andsimple sentences.
- Try not to ask your child too many questions. That way he won't feel the pressure that comes from you.
- Don't spoil him or give him any privileges. He must not feel sorry for him.
- Life in the family must comply with the rules and regulations. No randomness or fussiness.
- Child should not be very tired and overexcited.
- Try not to show your feelings. Children feel good about it. This feeling begins to oppress them. With this condition of the baby, the effectiveness of treatment is reduced.
Treatment
Complete examination completed. The reason why the child began to stutter has been established. It's time for treatment. Full recovery can only come when:
- regular classes;
- perseverance;
- desire;
- following all recommendations.
Treatment should be comprehensive.
- Professional correction. With the use of certain programs, a speech pathologist can eliminate primary and secondary speech disorders. The correctional program for each child is selected individually.
- Massage. For these purposes, you need an experienced children's masseur. The main rules of the massage include a slow pace, an atmosphere of calm and comfort, soothing music, warm hands of a specialist. The main goal of the procedure is muscle relaxation.
- Medications. They are prescribed only in severe cases (disorder of the nervous system and psyche). Used sedatives, anticonvulsantsdrugs.
- Traditional medicine. Sedatives are used. Motherwort, valerian, nettle juice and others will help relieve stress.
- Games at home. They train and consolidate the skills received from specialists.
- Breathing exercises - develops proper breathing. Consists of exercises that combine short, sharp breaths and movements.
Parents should know that only complex treatment will help the baby get rid of speech disorders. And if the child began to stutter, you must make every effort to help your child.
