How stuttering in children is treated 3 4. Causes of stuttering in preschool children and treatment. Controlling a child's speech

Stuttering (logoneurosis) is a complex speech disorder associated with psychophysiology, in which the integrity and fluency of a person’s speech is disrupted. This manifests itself in the form of repetition or prolongation of sounds, syllables, or words. It can manifest itself in the form of frequent stops or hesitation in speech, as a result of which its rhythmic flow is disrupted.

Speech is one of the most difficult activities. Speech interaction is a necessary condition of life. The development of brain systems that provide speech function does not end in the prenatal period, but continues after birth. The speech function, ontogenetically the most differentiated and late maturing, is fragile and vulnerable - the place of least resistance. And as you know, where it’s thin, it breaks.

Logoneurosis - speech neurosis - a variant of systemic neurosis. Inconsistency between the speech control system and speech reproduction is manifested by a violation of the fluency of speech. And the greater the fear for the outcome of speech, the more speech is disrupted, since attention is fixed. Logophobia increases the severity of logneurosis and complicates its treatment.

Stuttering most often occurs in children aged 2 to 5 years. Hereditary predisposition plays a major role in the development of stuttering. Speech disorders are diagnosed three times more often in boys than in girls. In preschool age, the skills of correct oral speech are formed.

Causes of stuttering:

increased tone and periodically occurring convulsive readiness of the motor endings of the speech centers of the brain;
consequences of acute and chronic stress in childhood;
genetic predisposition (some types of stuttering are inherited);
consequences of perinatal damage to the central nervous system;
tendency to have a convulsive reaction;
various brain injuries;
injuries, consequences of infectious and endocrine diseases;
disruption of normal speech development in children (early speech development and delayed psychomotor development);
children can imitate a person who stutters, but after a while they will develop a stable defect;
when trying to retrain left-handedness in childhood;
lack of affection, love, and understanding in a child.

At the age of three, young children develop the coordination system of speech movements and verbal thinking. Speech at this age is the most vulnerable and vulnerable area. Impaired speech development is due to the fact that young children are very easily overstimulated, some of them have a tendency to convulsiveness. A feature of the neurophysiology of this age is the fact that they do not have strong inhibitory reactions. The risk of developing stuttering in an excitable child is much higher than in a phlegmatic child.

Stuttering in children can occur as a result of strict upbringing and increased demands on the child. Some parents want to raise their children to be geniuses; they force their children to memorize large poems, pronounce and memorize difficult words and syllables, which in turn can cause speech development disorders in the child. Stuttering in children can increase or decrease. Provoking factors for increased stuttering can be overwork, colds, disruption of the daily routine, and punishment. If a small child has the first symptoms of a speech disorder, you should immediately contact a specialist; it will not go away on its own.

Stuttering in children must be cured before school. In order to understand how to get rid of stuttering, parents with children aged 2-5 years turn to a speech therapist.

Speech disorders observed during puberty are one of the manifestations of neurosis. Speech impairments may improve as a person gets older. According to statistics, only one percent of the adult population suffers from stuttering.

What to do if a child stutters?

Treatment of stuttering in children is carried out jointly by a psychologist, speech therapist and pediatrician.

The pediatrician’s task is to treat concomitant pathologies, strengthen the body, and prevent colds, especially diseases of the ear and vocal cords. It is necessary to treat chronic diseases and achieve stable, long-term remission. It is important to prescribe physiotherapeutic procedures for the child: swimming pool, massage, electric sleep.

A psychotherapist helps a child cope with his illness, helps to feel comfortable in any situation, helps not to be afraid of communicating with people, helps the child realize that he is not inferior and is no different from the peers around him. Classes with a psychologist are necessarily held together with parents, who also help the child cope with the disease.

Classes with a speech therapist help the child cope with the disease faster.

Classes with a speech therapist

Classes are conducted according to a certain system, have stages and sequence. First, children learn the correct narrative presentation of a text. They read poems and retell homework. The peculiarity of this story is that the child feels comfortable, he knows that he will not be graded, and no one will laugh at him. Children’s speech during such activities is measured, calm, without changing intonation. When it is possible to achieve the absence of stuttering during a narrative story, the child is asked to bring emotional coloring to the speech: somewhere to raise his voice, somewhere to make an accent, somewhere to make a theatrical pause.

During the classes, various life situations in which a child may find himself are simulated. This helps him cope with his stuttering outside the speech therapist's office.

It is imperative to keep your child in a good mood. The child should receive rewards for his achievements. Even if it is just praise, the child should feel the significance of his achievements.

Examples of correct speech should be present in classes. This could be the speech of a speech therapist, the conversation of other children who have already successfully completed the course of treatment.

A very important section in the treatment of children with stuttering is the use of a technique such as speech therapy rhythm. This technique includes exercises for the vocal and facial muscles, outdoor games, exercises and games with singing, and round dances.

Be sure to give your child homework assignments, since treatment should not be limited only to the speech therapist’s office.

Never, under any circumstances, raise your voice at your child., this can only make your stuttering worse.

The use of modern speech therapy methods helps the child quickly cope with the disease and lead a full life. It is very important to try to cope with stuttering before the child enters school (and for this you need to contact a speech therapist as early as possible and strictly follow all his instructions), since the school curriculum includes public speaking when answering questions from the teacher, which can become a big problem for child.

Overcoming stuttering becomes more difficult with age due to strengthening of incorrect speech skills and related disorders. Therefore, the sooner treatment is started, the better the result will be. As a result of treatment 70% of preschool children completely recover from stuttering; 30% have residual effects; 20% of schoolchildren are completely cured; 80% had varying degrees of speech improvement.

Stuttering is a speech disorder that is characterized by a violation of the correct rhythm of speech, as well as involuntary hesitations in the process of expressing thoughts, forced repetitions of individual syllables of a word or sounds. This pathology develops due to the occurrence of specific convulsions in the organs of articulation.

Basically, stuttering in children begins between the ages of 3 and 5 - at this stage, speech develops in the most active way, but since their speech function is not yet fully formed, some kind of “failure” may occur.

ICD-10 code

F98.5 Stuttering [stammering]

Epidemiology

Stuttering affects approximately 5% of all children aged six months and older. Three quarters of them will recover by the beginning of adolescence, about 1% have speech impairment that persists for life.

It should be noted that stuttering is several times (2-5) more likely to affect men than women. Typically, this disease manifests itself in early childhood, and research results show that in the age group under 5 years, stuttering develops in 2.5% of children. If we talk about the gender ratio, the numbers change as children grow older - for preschoolers the proportions are 2:1 (there are more boys), and by the first grade they become larger - 3:1. In fifth grade, this figure increases to 5k1, as girls get rid of stuttering at a faster rate. Since the recovery rate is quite high in the early stages (approximately 65-75%), the overall prevalence of this defect is usually no more than 1%.

Causes of stuttering in a child

Speech therapists distinguish 2 types of childhood stuttering. The first of them appears in children who have certain defects in the central nervous system. Possible causes include trauma during childbirth, heredity, severe gestosis during pregnancy, complicated childbirth, and frequent illnesses of the child in the first years of life. Otherwise he is developing normally and has no health problems.

During a neurological examination, such a child usually reveals signs of increased intracranial pressure, as well as an increased threshold convulsive readiness brain, pathological reflexes.

The second type of this defect is observed in children who initially do not have any organic or functional pathologies of the central nervous system. This type of stuttering appears due to neurosis provoked by stress or severe emotional or physical fatigue. In such cases, this speech defect increases significantly when the child is in a state of nervous tension or emotional excitement.

Pathogenesis

The pathogenesis of stuttering in its mechanism is quite similar to the so-called subcortical dysarthria. With this disease, the coordination of the breathing process, voice guidance, and articulation is disrupted. Because of this, stuttering is often called dysrhythmic dysarthria. Since there is a disruption in the interaction between the cerebral cortex and its subcortical structures, the regulation of the cortex itself is also disrupted. As a result, shifts occur in the functioning of the striopallidal system, which is responsible for “preparedness” for performing movements.

In this articulatory process of voice formation, 2 muscle groups take part, one of which contracts, and the other, on the contrary, relaxes. A completely coordinated and clear redistribution of the tone of these muscles allows you to make precise, correct and fast movements that have strict differentiation. The striopallidal system controls the rational redistribution of muscle tone. If this speech regulator is blocked (due to pathologies in the brain or strong emotional arousal), a tonic spasm occurs or a tic occurs. This pathological reflex, in which there is an increased tone of the muscles of the speech apparatus, as well as a disturbance in the automaticity of the child’s speech, over time transforms into a persistent conditioned reflex.

Symptoms of stuttering in a child

Typically, hesitations during stuttering sound like prolongation or repetition of the initial syllables of a spoken word or repetition of individual sounds. As a symptom of stuttering, children may also experience sudden pauses at the beginning of a word or a separate syllable. Often, along with a hesitation in speech, a stuttering child also experiences involuntary contractions of the facial muscles, as well as the muscles of the neck and limbs. Perhaps such movements appear reflexively to help reprimand, although in fact they only reinforce the impression in other people of how difficult it is for a person who stutters to speak. In addition, children suffering from stuttering begin to be afraid of individual words or sounds, so they try to replace them with some synonyms or explain them descriptively. And sometimes children who stutter try to avoid situations in which they need to talk altogether.

First signs

In order to provide timely help to their child, it is important for parents not to miss the moment when the first signs of stuttering appear:

The child suddenly begins to refuse to talk (this period can last 2-24 hours, and after that he begins to talk again, but at the same time stutters; therefore, if in this case you manage to take the child to a specialist even before the stuttering begins, the appearance of speech the defect is entirely preventable);
Pronounces extra sounds before a phrase (for example, it could be “and” or “a”);
At the beginning of a phrase, he is forced to repeat the initial syllable or the word itself in its entirety;
Forced to stop in the middle of a phrase or a single word;
Before starting his speech, he experiences some difficulties.

Psychosomatics of stuttering in children

A very popular opinion is that stuttering appears due to a discrepancy between the emotional and psychological load received by the body and its ability and/or ability to process it.

In general, approximately 70% of parents indicate that their child’s stuttering arose as a result of some stress factor.

Along with stuttering, children are often diagnosed with logoneurosis or logophobia, thereby indicating that their psychological health has been impaired. This led to problems with speech, manifested in the form of delays, hesitations, stops and spasms.

Forms

Based on the nature of the convulsions that appear during the speech process, we can distinguish tonic and clonic forms of stuttering in children. The convulsions themselves are either inspiratory or expiratory - it depends on when they appear - during inhalation or exhalation. Based on the nature of the cause, the disease is divided into symptomatic or evolutionary (it can be neurosis-like or neurotic).

Tonic type of stuttering looks like long pauses in the speech process or prolongation of sounds. In addition, a person who stutters usually looks constrained and tense, with his mouth half-open or completely closed, and his lips tightly closed.

Neurotic stuttering appears in a child due to mental trauma that he receives at the age of 2-6 years. It looks like clonic convulsions, which intensify at the beginning of a phrase or with strong emotional stress. Such children become very anxious when they need to speak or refuse to speak at all. It should be noted that, in general, the development of the speech and motor apparatus in such a child fully corresponds to all age stages of development, and in some children it may even be ahead of them.

Clonic stuttering in children looks like constant repetition of individual sounds/syllables, or entire words.

Neurosis-like stuttering usually appears due to some kind of brain disorder. This defect has the following symptoms: children are susceptible to rapid exhaustion and fatigue, are very irritable, and have nervous movements. Such a child is sometimes diagnosed with pathological psychiatric symptoms, characterized by impaired motor reflexes and behavioral difficulties.

This type of stuttering usually occurs at the age of 3-4 years and does not depend in any way on the presence and/or absence of psychological trauma. Basically, it appears at the moment of intensive development of phrasal speech in the child. Subsequently, the violations continue to gradually intensify. Speech becomes worse if the child is tired or sick. The development of movements and the speech apparatus occurs at the correct time or may be slightly delayed. At times, neurosis-like stuttering appears in a child against the background of some underdevelopment of his speech function.

Physiological stuttering in children

Physiological iterations are repetitions of individual words in a child’s speech. In young children they are observed quite often and are not considered a sign of illness. It is believed that this is a physiological symptom that is characteristic of a certain period of development of a child’s speech skill, and it is characteristic of 80% of children during the process of active development of phrasal speech at the age of 2-5 years). If no complications arise, repetitions will take place when the child strengthens the conditioned reflexes of his speech and learns to correctly express his thoughts.

Physiological stuttering in children is the result of the fact that the child’s thinking in its development is ahead of the progress of speech skills. At a young age, children are quite limited in expressing the thoughts that arise in them, because they have a small vocabulary, they have not yet learned to put thoughts into the correct form, and articulation has not yet formed, which is why speech is unclear.

Physiological irregularities in a child’s speech may appear due to some unfavorable factors (such as injuries, illnesses, inappropriate teaching techniques).

Stuttering in preschool children

Manifestations of stuttering can occur from 2-3 years of age. Since speech skills develop rapidly during the period of 2-5 years, the nature of a child’s speech can have such differences - the child speaks vigorously, at a fast pace, swallows the endings of phrases and words, takes pauses in the middle of speech, speaks while inhaling.

At this age, such signs are a natural stage in the process of learning a speech skill, but a child who has a tendency to stutter exhibits specific behavior:

During speech, he often stops, and at the same time his neck and facial muscles tense;
The child speaks little and tries to avoid the need to talk;
Abruptly interrupts the speech he has started and remains silent for a long time;
He is in a confused and depressed mood.

Diagnosis of stuttering in a child

Diagnosis of stuttering in children can be performed either by a child neurologist, psychologist, psychiatrist, or by a pediatrician or speech therapist. Each of these doctors must study the medical history, find out whether stuttering is hereditary, and also obtain information about the early motor and psycho-speech development of the child, find out when and under what circumstances stuttering arose.

During a diagnostic examination of the speech apparatus of a child who stutters, the following manifestations are revealed:

Form, location, frequency of spasms when pronouncing words;
Specific features in speech rate, breathing, and voice are assessed;
The presence of speech and movement disorders accompanying stuttering, as well as logophobia, is revealed;
It becomes clear how the child himself feels about the defect he has.

Also, the child must undergo an examination of the ability to pronounce sounds, phonemic hearing, as well as the lexical and grammatical part of speech.

The formation of speech in children is a very complex process in which the respiratory tract, lungs, glottis, soft palate, teeth, tongue, lips, and brain are involved. If there is a malfunction in the functioning of any of these organs, and even more so in the brain structures, speech problems may be diagnosed. Among them, the most common is stuttering, which is defined as a periodic spasm of the upper respiratory tract, leading to difficulty pronouncing words. Some doctors equate it with neuroses.

This phenomenon interferes with the child’s social adaptation, and in its advanced form will affect his further success in education. It is very important to help people who stutter at an early stage of speech development in order to cope with this illness before school.

The disease is described even in ancient historical manuscripts, but the causes of stuttering in children became clear only thanks to the Russian scientist I.P. Pavlov, who, having formulated the concept of higher nervous activity, helped to understand the origin of neuroses. Violations can be determined by internal or external factors.

Brain pathologies

Predisposition to diseases of this nature can be explained by the following reasons:

heredity;
intrauterine infections during pregnancy;
prematurity;
choleric temperament.

In most cases, this kind of problem is determined by genetic abnormalities. If a child began to stutter as soon as he learned to speak, the reasons should be sought specifically in brain pathologies.

External influences

But if a child begins to stutter later, at 3-4 years old, the reasons must be sought in external circumstances. The disease could be triggered by the following factors:

CNS infections: encephalitis;
brain injuries: concussion, bruise;
functional immaturity of the cerebral hemispheres in children under 5 years of age: such stuttering goes away without medical intervention;
infections of the ears, upper respiratory tract;
diseases that provoke weakening of the body: rickets, frequent acute respiratory viral infections and acute respiratory infections;
concomitant diseases, secondary conditions: insomnia, enuresis, increased fatigue, nightmares;
psychological trauma: from fright, fear, chronic stress;
improper upbringing: spoiling, pampering, or, on the contrary, too high demands;
problems with the formation of children's speech: if the parents themselves speak quickly and nervously;
imitation of adults.

Parents must understand why their child stutters: this will help choose the right course of treatment and protect him in the future from such provoking factors (meaning external).

A lot depends on the emotional environment in which he grows up. If it is favorable, the baby feels parental care (in moderation), is not deprived of love, has never experienced serious stress, and has no problems with speech. If everything is exactly the opposite and the family suffers from constant conflicts, the baby becomes pinched, and as a result he is diagnosed with stuttering in one form or another.

Through the pages of history. The first detailed description of stuttering can be found in the writings of Hippocrates, and this is the 4th century BC. e.

Symptoms

The clinical picture of the disease is characterized by one very important feature. If stuttering is caused by neurosis, it intensifies with psycho-emotional stress, but practically disappears in a calm environment.

If the cause is brain pathology, the problem will be permanent. In this case, muscle spasms of the tongue, larynx, palate, and diaphragm manifest themselves in various speech disorders:

forced pause in a certain place of the word: dog;
repetition of the same sound when the child stutters on the first syllable or sound: s-s-dog, so-so-dog;
a combination of the two previous types of speech disorder.

Additional symptoms of stuttering are:

tension, nervousness of the child;
grimacing, which in certain cases reaches nervous tics;
isolation, which can develop into social phobia;
psychological discomfort during communication;
neurological disorders: tearfulness, irritability, various phobias, aggressiveness, .

Stuttering creates logophobia in a child - this is the fear of verbal communication with other people. He expects his failures in advance, is afraid of misunderstanding and ridicule, withdraws and refuses to talk. That is why the role of adults in his life is so important: they must help him overcome all these barriers.

Correction of speech disorders is possible and brings good results with regular practice, but everything will depend on what form of stuttering the child suffers from.

With the world - one by one. The most famous stutterers are the prophet Moses, the orator Demosthenes, the physicist Isaac Newton, the writer Lewis Carroll, the beautiful Marilyn Monroe, the politician Winston Churchill, the actor Bruce Willis and many others.

Kinds

There are different types of stuttering, each of which is characterized by its own characteristics and requires a specific correction scheme. At this point in time, there are several classifications of this speech disorder.

Depending on the reason:

pathological/genetic stuttering is caused by disturbances in the functioning of the brain;
nervous is explained by problems with the nervous system.

Depending on the speech:

tonic stuttering, when a child makes a forced pause at a certain place in a word;
clonic, when there is a repetition of the same sound, syllable or word;
mixed, when a combination of tonic and clonic stuttering is diagnosed.

Depending on the form of the disease:

a permanent form in which stuttering is a constant companion of the child in any situation;
wave-like form, when it increases or decreases from time to time, but does not go away at all;
a recurrent form is the appearance of stuttering after a period of its absence.

When examining a child, a speech therapist identifies the type of stuttering he has and after that prescribes one or another correction method, each of which is selected individually. The main thing is to take the baby to a specialist on time and complete the entire treatment path. And you have to start with the usual diagnostics.

Interesting fact. According to historical sources, in ancient Rome stuttering was treated by cutting the tongue.

Diagnostics

A comprehensive examination of children with stuttering involves consultation with the following specialists:

speech therapist;
pediatrician;
neurologist;
psychologist;
psychiatrist.

Using various tests and instrumental examinations, doctors check:

medical history;
heredity;
information about the early development of the child - psycho-speech and motor;
circumstances and time of stuttering;
localization, shape, frequency of speech spasms;
features of speech rate, voice, breathing;
accompanying disorders (motor or speech);
logophobia.

Children who stutter are examined for sound pronunciation, lexical and grammatical content of speech, and phonemic hearing. The speech therapy report contains a description of the form, degree of stuttering and the nature of the seizures. The pathology must be differentiated from tachylalia, dysarthria, and stumbling.

To identify organic damage to the nervous system, a neurologist may prescribe:

rheoencephalography;
MRI of the brain;
EchoEG.

Only after all these examinations can doctors tell how to cure stuttering in a child in one case or another, because each of them is individual and almost unique. Complete recovery can only be guaranteed by regular exercise, perseverance, desire and strict adherence to all the recommendations of specialists. Treatment must be comprehensive.

According to statistics. Stuttering is diagnosed in 4% of children and only 2% of adults.

Treatment

What does comprehensive treatment of stuttering in children mean? It involves the correction of speech disorders in several directions at once. Not only professionals in specialized conditions should work with the child. Much depends on home activities, which must be organized by the parents themselves. This is the only way to get rid of this pathology forever and send your child to school without any complexes.

Professional correction

It is quite logical that parents are interested in which doctor treats stuttering in children: a neurologist and psychologist determine only its causes, a psychotherapist can prescribe medications if necessary. But only a speech pathologist-speech therapist eliminates primary and secondary disorders of speech function with the help of specific correction programs selected individually.

There are special speech therapy exercises that allow you to work on the fluency of a child’s speech and develop breathing when speaking. As a result, the child overcomes the stuttering barrier and begins to speak at the right pace. Classes will be effective only if the environment is favorable.

Funny carousels

The speech therapist and the child slowly, measuredly walk in a circle and at each step say the phrase: “We are funny carousels - oops-opa-opa-pa-pa, tatati-tati-tata.”

Conductor

The speech therapist rhythmically waves his hands. For each swing, the child chants vowels, syllables, words - whatever he wants.

Happy chickens

The child alternately jumps on one leg or the other, pretending to be a chicken and each time changing the usual phrase: “Clap-clap-clap! Tap-tap-tap! Oof-iv-af! Tap-tip-rap-rap-tip-tap!”

Teddy Bear

The speech therapist pronounces various words into a chant, very slowly. For each vowel sound, the child must clap his hands. Gradually the exercise becomes more complicated: along with the slam, he must also stomp his foot.

Artists

Invite your child to recite any short poem by heart, but in a sing-song voice, accompanied by calm music (it is better to take a classic or an instrumental melody). The task is to get on the beat. If the little patient completes the task well, you can take a longer poem.

However, correction of stuttering in preschool children is not limited only to fun speech therapy exercises. Since this is not only a psychological and speech problem, but also a physiological one, it requires the intervention of other specialists in the treatment process. For example, a massage therapist.

Massage

To eliminate your child’s stuttering, sign him up for a massage with a specialist. It is not recommended to do it yourself at home, because you can accidentally damage the muscle or larynx. Only an experienced children's massage therapist specializing specifically in the treatment of speech disorders can guarantee the effectiveness of the procedure.

The basic rules for carrying it out are as follows:

slow and leisurely pace;
creating an atmosphere of calm, comfort and warmth for the little patient;
the sound of soothing music;
warm hands of a masseur.

The procedure is carried out sequentially in zones:

upper shoulder girdle;
facial muscles;
lips;
larynx.

The main goal of such a massage is to relax the muscles that are in constant tone in a stutterer. The full course consists of 12 procedures. If necessary, it is repeated after 2 weeks.

In order for speech therapy correction of stuttering in children and massage to be most effective, doctors may recommend drug therapy for disorders of the nervous system.

Medications

Anti-stuttering medications are prescribed only for severe mental and nervous system disorders. For the most part, these are anticonvulsants, sedatives or tranquilizers (in extreme cases). It can be:

Phenibut;
Galoper;
Haloperidol in different variations: decanoate, acri, apo, ratiopharm;
Glycine;
Gopantam;
Pantogam;
Pentocalcin;
Senorm;
Tenoten;
Magne B6;
Citral;
Phenazepam;
Tazepam;
Sibazon;
Elenium.

You can also find a homeopathic cure for stuttering for children, which will also have a powerful calming effect. Large selection:

Notta;
Baby Ced;
Nervochel;
Valerianahel;
Bunny;
Leovit;
Edas;
Naughty;
Dormikind.

You cannot independently select medication treatment for stuttering for a child. If the nature of the speech disorder is not at all a problem of the nervous system, such therapy will aggravate the patient’s condition. Only a neurologist or psychotherapist can advise you on this issue. Even herbal medicine is not always indicated.

Folk remedies

Sometimes doctors may recommend treating stuttering in children with folk remedies, i.e., sedative herbs. You can collect them yourself, or you can buy ready-made pharmaceutical preparations and brew them in dosages recommended by a specialist.

Help relieve tension:

valerian;
motherwort;
herbal mixture of dry mint, valerian, nettle, chamomile;
gargling with a decoction of white ash or fragrant rue;
nettle juice;
goose cinquefoil;
hops and heather;
viburnum berries.
honey (in any form).

If a child stutters, parents should understand that simply rinsing with herbal decoctions and honey compresses on the tongue will not be able to eliminate such a severe speech disorder. They will only help the main course of therapy, but are not an independent and full-fledged direction in the treatment of childhood stuttering. Game activities will be much more effective.

Games

To support speech therapy exercises and enhance their effectiveness, parents can conduct games for children who stutter at home.

You should not select them yourself: it is better to consult with a specialist who is already working with the child. Taking into account his individual speech development (read about norms and deviations of speech development for children 3-4 years old), the defectologist will select the most optimal options. Here are the most popular ones.

Unlucky artist

The child looks at the pictures and names inconsistencies with reality: for example, autumn is depicted, but the leaves on the trees are green. The competitive aspect is important here: he must do it as quickly as possible.

Farm

The child must repeat, after the adult, the sounds made by various pets. At first he does it slowly, in a sing-song voice, trying not to stutter. As soon as he starts to succeed, the pace needs to be accelerated.

Creation

If the child draws well, invite him to draw something and at the same time give comments, tell him what he is depicting. Usually, in a creative impulse, tension is relieved and speech becomes smoother. Instead of drawing, it could be sculpting, singing or other hobbies.

Playful activities with children who stutter at home train and reinforce correct speech and behavior skills in difficult conditions. This is a unique, but very necessary bridge for transferring acquired skills from gaming conditions to ordinary ones. And most importantly, the child learns to behave correctly in different speech situations, which develops in him the necessary attitude towards others and the team.

Breathing exercises

Breathing exercises, which are carried out first with a specialist, then with parents at home, will help relieve a child from stuttering. The technique of A. N. Strelnikova is especially popular.

Its task is to develop proper breathing in case of impaired speech functions. It is ideal for classes with children both 3 years old and 6 years old, i.e. there are no age restrictions. Includes breathing exercises that combine short and sharp inhalations with movements. The activity of various parts of the body provokes a rush of oxygen to the tissues.

Pump

The child takes a vertical position. Hands down. He takes a short, sharp breath, leaning forward at the same time. The back is rounded, the head goes down. Then he rises slightly, while exhaling (either through the nose or through the mouth).

The entire exercise should consist of 8 breaths, 12 repetitions at intervals of 5 seconds. But the child may not immediately cope with such a volume. Come to it gradually. If your baby complains of dizziness or lower back pain, let him try the “pump” from a sitting position next time.

Since this breathing exercise puts a colossal load on various organs, there are several contraindications for its implementation: head injuries, problems with the spine, high blood pressure (any kind - arterial, intraocular or intracranial), stones, myopia, poor health, exacerbation of any diseases.

Hug your shoulders

This exercise is performed from a vertical position. The arms are bent, the hands are raised at shoulder level. The child should bring them towards each other, while simultaneously taking a short, noisy breath. He should seem to hug himself by the shoulders, while his elbows converge on his chest.

When performing the exercise correctly, the arms should be parallel to each other, and not, as often happens, crosswise. At the moment of exhalation (it can be done through the mouth or through the nose), the arms diverge, forming a square. The total number of breaths is 8. In total, the exercise must be done 12 times at short intervals. Contraindications: heart failure and other serious diseases.

These breathing exercises will help cure stuttering in preschool children so that there are no problems with learning. Within two months, with the correct technique, deep and smooth breathing appears, which was not there before. And the next examination will show that the vocal cords have become flexible and mobile.

Parents must understand that it is impossible to treat stuttering in children at home without the involvement of specialists. To eliminate this serious speech deficiency, massage, speech therapy exercises, and medication therapy are needed. Only a set of measures will give the desired result.

This is interesting! In 1841, Dieffenbach, a German surgeon, proposed treating stuttering by removing part of the tongue muscles.

Forecasts

Naturally, every parent worries about whether a child’s stuttering can be cured. Forecasts depend on many factors (the patient’s age and the form of the disease), and in each case they are individual:

if treatment was carried out in a timely manner, it will be much easier to get rid of the pathology;
if there are congenital pathologies of the speech apparatus, the prognosis promises to be no longer so favorable;
recovery also depends on the form of stuttering: respiratory spasms can be treated easier and faster than tonic ones;
the greatest effect can be achieved if the child is only 3-5 years old: starting from the age of 12, the disorder is no longer so easy to correct;
Under the influence of psychological factors, stuttering may cause a relapse of the disease.

The main thing is that parents must understand what to do if a child stutters: help him in any way, involve specialists, create a favorable psychological atmosphere. And it’s even better to do everything possible to prevent this problem from arising at all, that is, engage in prevention.

Did you know that... Is there an international stuttering association that has its own Charter on the rights and responsibilities of all people who stutter?

Prevention

Stuttering in children can be avoided with the help of appropriate preventive measures:

Creating a friendly, supportive atmosphere in the family.
No conflicts between parents.
Eliminate scary stories and films from the child’s field of vision.
If your baby is afraid of the dark, be sure to leave the lamp on at night.
Give him more love and care, but at the same time do not pamper him or overestimate his demands.
We need to protect him from psychological trauma.
Mother's careful attitude towards her health during pregnancy.

As practice shows, calm children who grew up in a favorable atmosphere and do not experience a lack of parental love and care rarely suffer from stuttering, if the problem is not due to inheritance or genetics.

If this does happen, you don’t need to consider your child special and different from everyone else. This speech disorder is a common condition that can be cured. This should give hope for recovery and full social adaptation.

By the age of 3, the child begins to rapidly develop speech. The articulatory apparatus is ready to pronounce sounds. And here an emotional breakdown can occur. The child begins to stutter. Parents, as a rule, do not immediately notice stuttering in children aged 3 years.

Signs of stuttering in children 3 years old

The baby's speech becomes fast and slurred. He swallows endings, speech is interrupted by long pauses. While speaking, you may notice tension in the muscles of the neck and face. Sometimes the child begins to involuntarily clench his hands into fists. Some people wave their arms and involuntarily move their legs while speaking. If your child shows these signs, then he may have a stutter. This disease also has another scientific name: logoneurosis.

Causes of stuttering:

Emotional disruptions in the functioning of the nervous system associated with trauma during childbirth or genetic predisposition.
Disorders in the subcortex of the brain of an organic nature.
Failure in the functioning of the child’s nervous system after suffering serious illnesses in early childhood (whooping cough, rickets, measles).
Sudden shock to the psycho-emotional sphere. It may be associated with childhood phobias. Most often, children are afraid of the dark and loneliness. Young children can be very frightened by a pet, such as a dog.
Overload of a child's speech. He is stuffed with speech material that does not correspond to his age, or they begin to study foreign languages with him. The psyche of even a completely healthy baby cannot withstand the stress.
Infectious diseases, adenoid growths, even poor nutrition can provoke logoneurosis.

What to do if a child stutters?

If a child begins to stutter, first of all you need to contact a neurologist so that he can confirm the diagnosis. If your child has a stutter, then you must follow a number of rules:

The main thing in a child’s routine is to go to bed on time and get up at a certain time. Sleep during the day is also necessary. It has a beneficial effect on the baby’s nervous system and strengthens it. It is advisable that the duration of daytime sleep is at least two hours.
Before going to bed, read a little to your child or tell a story. Watch less cartoons and give up noisy games in the evening.
There is no need to rule out walking in any weather. Physical education classes and visiting the pool help strengthen the nervous system.
There is no need to prohibit communication with peers or overprotect the child.
Adults surrounding the child need to monitor the correctness of their speech. She must be unhurried and competent. A perfect speech example is desirable.
An atmosphere of goodwill and calm should reign in the house. It is necessary to exclude, if possible, conflicts in the family of a stutterer. There is no need to sort things out in front of the child.

How to treat stuttering in children?

A massage is prescribed, which affects the muscles involved in the speech process. It should be done by a specially trained speech therapist. The child must be in a lying or sitting position. Sessions are carried out initially for a few minutes, increasing to half an hour. Massage is carried out in the amount of 10 procedures. Acupressure is also effective. It calms, has a relaxing effect on the child’s condition, and restores the functioning of articulatory muscles.

To normalize breathing and control the condition during speech communication, breathing exercises are used for stuttering. It improves blood supply to the brain and forms proper breathing.

Examples of breathing exercises for stuttering:

The child stands with his arms straight down. Palms look up. When you inhale, slowly squeeze your palms, and when you exhale, unclench your palms.
Take a deep breath and slowly sit down. Stand up and exhale noisily.
Place your feet shoulder-width apart, hands on your waist. Inhale and tilt first to the right, then to the left. Then exhale.
Take a deep breath and bow your head down or raise it, while exhaling noisily.

The exercises are performed several times. Breathing exercises are performed in the morning every day. After it you can relax.

Nowadays, specially developed computer programs for the treatment of stuttering are widely used. With their help, certain speech situations are played out in which the child hears himself and tries to make his speech smooth and continuous.

There is no need to discard traditional methods of treating stuttering. They include special speech therapy gymnastics, breathing exercises, which are aimed at reducing spasms of the facial muscles and speech apparatus. These anti-stuttering exercises are especially effective if it is necessary to treat stuttering in children 3 years old.

Sometimes silent mode is used. When a child speaks only during classes with a speech therapist, where his speech sounds smoothly, and the rest of the time he is silent. This is how correct speech is developed.

In severe forms of stuttering, medication is also prescribed to relieve spasms of the vocal muscles.

Only a speech therapist can tell you how to cure a child’s stuttering. And parents should follow his advice.

"Caution: Children" program. Topic “Stuttering” - video

The article describes the most common causes of stuttering in young children. Practical advice for parents on how to behave with a child who stutters and what to do to restore speech as quickly as possible.

At three years old, most children are already chatting and formulating their thoughts quite quickly. All children are different - some always talk about something, about what they see, what they think about, what happened to them during the day, and even make up a lot of things. And some, on the contrary, are more silent and rather like to listen: fairy tales, poems, mother’s songs.

At the age of about three years, some children may develop stuttering for one reason or another. In such cases, it is very important that parents and groaning grandmothers control themselves. It is worth remembering whether someone close or not so close to you had stuttering, think about how quickly it passed and what triggered the symptoms of stuttering.

As a rule, stuttering in children at an early age occurs from worries or emotional stress. Children with a more excitable psyche are more likely to start stuttering than thoughtful, calm kids.

Stuttering can be preceded by many factors - entering kindergarten, mother going to work, the appearance of a younger brother or sister in the family, separation from one of your beloved relatives. The child may not realize that something has disturbed him, but the internal experience will result in stuttering.

Also, at the age of three, the baby becomes more aware, he wants to express himself more clearly, use more words. Therefore, when composing a sentence, you worry, stammer, and as a result, stuttering may appear. Sometimes a baby may begin to stutter if parents try to teach a born left-hander to use his right hand - speech and hand work are interconnected and interfering with the child’s nature can harm him.

So what should you do if your child stutters?

The first and probably most important advice is not to panic. The mother’s excitement is strongly transmitted to the baby, and he will only begin to stutter more strongly. Whatever the reasons for a child’s stuttering, as a rule, it gradually goes away on its own. The baby gets used to the changes that have occurred in his life and learns to express his thoughts faster. There is no need to ask your child why he stutters; it is better to slowly find out in a playful way what is bothering him. Try to make your child’s life more free, put off studying the alphabet and poetry, and go for walks more often on the street, in the company of children with whom he feels free. Stuttering in children goes away gradually in 90% of cases on its own. On mommy forums, there is a lot of advice on medications that supposedly help with stuttering, but this is rather self-deception - stuttering in children 2-3 years old goes away on its own, regardless of taking calcium or other dietary supplements.

If the stuttering has not gone away within six months, it makes sense to show the child