Stuttering, which can affect an individual's communication with his/her environment, generally occurs in early childhood between the ages of 2 and 5. Experts say that stuttering is a form of behavior and can be corrected with therapy methods and emphasize that family attitudes are effective in recovery. According to experts, it is necessary not to interfere with the child who stutters and to listen patiently.
Every year, October 22 is commemorated as World Stuttering Day in order to draw attention to stuttering and provide accurate information about stuttering. Üsküdar University NPISTANBUL Hospital Language and Speech Disorders Specialist İbrahim Yaşa gave information about stuttering.
Facial and body movements can also change
Stating that stuttering is "a condition in which the flow of speech is disrupted by pauses (interruption of what is said), repetition of sounds and syllables (ta-ta-stuttering), prolongation (ttttt-stuttering)", İbrahim Yaşa said, "This speech fluency disorder may be accompanied by changes in facial and body movements that occur due to speech effort. In the treatment, therapy approaches that vary according to the age group and the severity and type of stuttering, including interventions to gain fluency in speech, are used."
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Beware of early childhood!
Stating that stuttering is generally evident in early childhood (around 2 to 5 years of age), İbrahim Yaşa warned, "However, in some cases, it may give its first symptoms in school age and very rarely in adulthood."
Stuttering is a form of behavior
Giving information about stuttering treatment, İbrahim Yaşa said the following:
"There are a wide variety of successful methods and techniques that can be applied in both children and adults in the treatment of stuttering. It is aimed to gain fluency behavior in speech. It would not be correct to talk about a complete "cure" or a "quick solution" for stuttering in the first stage. Stuttering is a behavior, a wrong speaking habit and it is very important to intervene the disruptions in speech fluency with therapy approaches including fluency exercises. The aim of treatment is not to eliminate stuttering in the short term, but to improve in the long term, to increase fluency and to ensure success in communicating."
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Don't make the situation more complicated!
Stating that wrong family and environmental attitudes in stuttering affect the stuttering individual, İbrahim Yaşa listed his suggestions as follows:
"The individual who stutters may not be aware that he/she is not fluent. In such a case, it is necessary not to draw attention to the fluency disorder. Comments such as 'stop and say it again', 'breathe and think before you start talking', 'be slower' or 'is someone chasing you?' will not help solve the situation. Focus on what the individual is saying and listen carefully and patiently, not on how the individual is saying it.
If you observe that the individual is upset about his/her speech, you can make him/her feel and say in a supportive way that you recognize and understand that he/she has speech difficulties. Comments such as 'It seems a little difficult to say that', 'These things can happen' or 'Sometimes we may have difficulty speaking' will help the individual learn to cope with stuttering more successfully."
