Causes of Child Stuttering Talk, and How to Overcome It

Medical Video: Tips to Stop Stuttering

As a parent, you must be anxious when you realize that your little one starts to stutter. Stuttering children is often a teasing and ostracized material in association. In some cases, children who stutter can experience anxiety and fear of speaking in public.

What causes children to stutter? When can stuttering be normal and when should a child need professional help? What can be done to help her baby? The following is information that you can use to guide each of your actions and decisions if the child begins to stutter.

Is that stuttering?

Stuttering is a disorder of speech patterns that makes it difficult for children to speak fluently, so this condition is sometimes called language fluency.

Children stutter most often at the beginning of a sentence, but stuttering can also occur along the sentence. For example, children may repeat sounds or syllables, especially at the beginning, such as "Ma-ma-mau." Stuttering patterns can also be heard as an extension of sound, such as "Ssssusu." Sometimes stuttering also involves stopping speech or mouth chanting word but the child does not make a sound. Stuttering can also be classified as an interruption of speech by entering sounds, such as "um", "uh," eh ", especially when the child is thinking. Children may also do nonverbal things when they stutter. For example, they might blink their eyes, grimace, or clench their fists.

Some children do not realize that they stutter, but others, especially older children, are very aware of their condition. They may become irritated or angry when they don't speak fluently. Others really refuse to talk, or limit speaking, especially outside the home.

What causes a child to stutter?

Stuttering has long been considered a result of physical or emotional trauma. Although there are indeed a number of examples of cases of children stuttering after experiencing trauma, there is little evidence to support the idea that stuttering is caused by emotional or psychological upheaval. Research has shown that there are many factors that have the potential to cause children to stutter.

Stuttering generally occurs for no apparent reason, but will often arise when the child feels very happy, tired, or feels forced or suddenly has to speak. Many children who begin to experience difficulties in speaking fluency when they are just learning to use complicated grammar and placing a number of words together to form intact sentences. This difficulty may occur due to differences in the way the brain processes language. Children who stutter process language in the brain area, causing errors or delays in sending messages from the brain to the mouth muscles when he needs to speak. The result, the child spoke faltered.

Some children, especially those from families where the history of stuttering is common, may inherit a tendency to stutter. In addition, the tendency to stutter is also commonly found in children who live with families with a fast-paced and high expectation.

So many factors play a role in determining the fluency of language children. What is clear, until now, the exact cause of why children stutter is unknown.

When to worry about a child who is stuttering?

Stuttering is a speech barrier that is common in children, especially those aged 2 to 5 years. About 5% of all children tend to experience stuttering at some point in their development, usually during the preschool years. Most speech disorders will disappear by themselves. But for some, stuttering can be a lifelong condition that causes psychological problems that burden children as adults.

It's not always easy to distinguish when stuttering in a child will develop into a more serious problem. However, there are some classic signs that you must watch out for:

Repetition of sounds, phrases, words, or syllables becomes more frequent and consistent; so is the extension of sound
The child's speech begins to show tension, especially in the muscles of the mouth and neck
Stuttering children are followed by nonverbal activities, such as facial expressions or tense and tight muscle movements
You begin to notice the sound production tension that causes the child to give a loud, muffled sound or higher pitch
Children use various ways to avoid talking
Your child avoids using certain words or changing words suddenly in the middle of a sentence to avoid stuttering relapse
Stuttering continues after the child is more than 5 years old
In some cases of severe stuttering, children may show hard work and are very exhausted when trying to speak

What can be done to help children overcome stuttering?

Ignoring stuttering (supposedly believed to make symptoms subside) is not a good step. Likewise, to regard the condition of language barriers as something normal in the development of children's speech and language. Stuttering is common in children, but that does not mean this is a normal condition.

There is no drug approved to treat stuttering. Stuttering can be managed successfully through speech therapy by a speech and language pathologist (SLP) or a therapist (SLT). Overcoming stuttering in childhood as soon as parents suspect symptoms of language fluency in children will be far more effective than treating stuttering when the child is more mature. Most speech therapists will offer testing and provide therapy that can be tailored to the needs of the child.

In addition, there are many things you can do with other family members to help children who stutter through their speech problems. For example:

Recognize stuttering when the child speaks falter (For example, "it's okay, maybe what you want to say is stuck in the head.")
Don't be negative or critical of your child's speech; insist on showing the right or correct way of speaking; or finish the sentence. It's important for children to understand that people can communicate effectively even when they stutter.
Creating opportunities for speaking that are relaxed, fun, and enjoyable.
Involve the child in conversations without TV interruptions or other disturbances, such as getting children to chat at dinner.
Don't force children to continue to interact verbally when stuttering is a problem. Divert activities to chat with activities that don't require a lot of verbal interaction.
Listen attentively to what your child says, maintain normal eye contact without showing signs of being impatient or frustrated.
Avoid corrections or criticisms such as "let's try again slowly," "take a breath first," "think about what you want to say first," or "pause for a while." These comments, though well-intentioned, will only make your child feels more aware of the problem.
Make the atmosphere of the house as calm as possible. Try to slow down the pace of family life; Example of a relaxed, clear and organized way of speaking in the family to help children manage their own way of speaking.
Reduce the number of questions you ask for children. Children will speak more freely if they express their own ideas rather than answering adult questions. Instead of asking, comment on what your child is saying, so you let him know that you are listening. Give a little pause before you respond to your child's questions or comments.
Don't be afraid to talk to your child about stuttering. If he asks or expresses concern about the problem, listen and answer in a way that can help him understand that language disorders are common and can be overcome.
Above all, tell him that you accept him for who he is. Your support and affection for him, regardless of stuttering or not, will be the biggest encouragement for children to become better.

It's natural for you as a parent to feel anxious, guilty, angry, sad, embarrassed, or want to pretend that your child doesn't have a problem. All of this is a valid emotion that is commonly felt by parents when they witness their children having difficulties. You may also experience pressure from outside parties to have perfect children. But, rest assured that you are not alone and there are many people who can help you.

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