Shame, low self-esteem, loneliness, and often depression as a consequence. This is what life is like for many people who stutter. A lot of myths have grown up around this affliction, and there are many methods of therapy. But specialists agree on one thing: stuttering can be cured and it should be done as early as possible.
7 myths about stuttering
Published April 14, 2023 13:26
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- Stuttering is a speech defect
No, because everyone who stutters is able to speak fluently, it is not related to the structure of the speech apparatus. - Stuttering has a genetic basis
There is no gene for stuttering, although you may have a predisposition written in your genes. - Stuttering will pass on its own
Untreated, diagnosed stuttering basically never passes, it only intensifies. - Stuttering builds on stress, has to do with mental problems
Not. It is necessary to have a predisposition to stuttering, which then can be triggered by trauma, severe stress. Mental problems, on the other hand, are secondary, a result of stuttering. - Stuttering cannot be cured
Stuttering is a learned emotional response, a specific "program" stored in the brain. It creates the personality of the stutterer. The stutterer stutters not only when he speaks, but already when he plans his speech. Therapy can replace this program in the brain with the correct one. - Stuttering is congenital
It is always acquired. No infant stutters at the level of babbling. - Stuttering is the result of pathology at home
This is a pernicious myth that reinforces the taboo on stuttering. It could be one of hundreds of causes.
On the issue of stuttering treatment, the therapy community is divided, which, unfortunately, does not work in favor of patients seeking rescue, often based on information found on the Internet. They get lost in the maze of conflicting opinions. Desperate, they try various practices, unconventional methods, such as those based on meditation or hypnosis. Not noticing no results, they abandon therapy and lose hope.
We don't all know it, but stuttering is a disease. The World Health Organization lists it under the International Classification of Diseases under code F.98.5. The vast majority of therapists, regardless of the method used, agree that it is a treatable disease, as evidenced by numerous cases of people who, after therapy, communicate without problems, without stutters and... without shame. Finally, they can be themselves, express their own thoughts in exactly the words that come to mind and that they want to use.
- There is no single medically proven cause of stuttering. There are predispositions: genetic, psychological, neurological, personality and environmental," explains neurologist, Sylwia Zientek, founder of the Stuttering Therapy Center in Bydgoszcz. - It could be severe stress or prolonged exposure to negative emotions, there could be perinatal damage, an accident, hypersensitivity, as stuttering affects highly emotional people, the therapist enumerates.
- Since there is no single cause, it is difficult to talk about one path for all patients, one right method. I am of the opinion that everyone has his own path to fluent speech, has the right and opportunity to choose a method or a compilation of methods and therapy that will suit his sensitivity and be effective. Because what matters is the goal: it is possible to cure stuttering completely, about this I have no doubts," Sylwia Zientek argues.
Stuttering in theory
It turns out that defining the term is quite a problem. In simple terms, we'll say that stuttering is not speaking fluently. But that's not enough. A person who stutters is able to speak briefly but fluently one day, with a lot of tension, avoiding the interlocutor's gaze, sweating, shallowing his breath. The next day he says nothing, is blocked.
A well-known theorist, an authority on stuttering, Professor Zbigniew Tarkowski expands the definition. He describes stuttering as a communication disorder occurring in certain situations, the basic symptoms of which are speaking fluency and logophobia (fear of speaking out), as well as neuromuscular (muscle tension, involuntary movements) and vegetative (blushing, sweating) changes. Prof. Tarkovsky developed the Questionnaire on Speech Fluency and Logophobia (KNML), which includes a method of diagnosis and therapy along with testing protocols. The questionnaire is used to study children over the age of 5, adolescents and adults, as the professor proves that stuttering is acquired during speech development, that is, by the age of 5-6. Left untreated, it can only perpetuate itself later. The professor is also the author of the concept of developmental stuttering (in children younger than 6 years old), transient with speech learning.
Through the eyes of practicing therapists
One of the most popular therapeutic methods was created by Professor Lilia Arutiunian, author of the method of Permanent Normalization of Speech of Stutterers. Here, speech is synchronized with the movements of the fingers of the right hand. The goal is to regain control over the rate of speech.
Arutiunian was the first person to categorically claim that stuttering can be 100 percent cured. It took the researcher 40 years of scientific work and practice to develop questionnaires, techniques and exercises. The bulk of speech therapists and neurologists treating stuttering today use this method (offices receive special certificates), with each practitioner conducting therapy a little differently in practice. Not infrequently drawing techniques from other sources, developing their own tools or putting more emphasis on psychological aspects. Today, with the world rushing forward at an alarming pace, it's especially hard to be a person who stutters....
The second popular method was developed by Dr. Mieczyslaw Chęciek, who calls stuttering a communicative disorder of speech fluency. Dr. Chęciek runs the Specialized Stuttering Therapy Center based in Wodzisław Śląski and, together with a team of therapists, organizes rehabilitation camps for stutterers. Chęćk's method (Modified Program of Psychophysiological Therapy for Stutterers) consists of various therapeutic techniques, including the technique of prolonged speaking (TPM) and soft speech start (TDSM).
On the other hand, Dr. Krzysztof Szamburski, associated with the so-called "J Clubs," identifies stuttering with speech neurosis and focuses in his method first on quieting the secondary fear of speaking, followed by therapy aimed at finding the cause of stuttering (the primary fear that caused it) in parallel with fluency of speech. "J Clubs" is a place of support for people who stutter and their relatives.
Then there is the original method of Ewa Galewska, M.D., neurologist and psychotherapist - Integrative Therapy for Stutterers. - We are sometimes stigmatized, because we challenge many of the conventional opinions about stuttering. The material for creating tools in therapy is provided to us by the patients themselves, whom we have been treating effectively, modernly and comprehensively for more than 20 years," says Tomasz Galewski, a psychologist and psychotherapist who, together with his wife, runs the Stuttering Treatment Clinic in Warsaw and Poznan.
Treat effectively, or how?
Everyone has their own way of stuttering, everyone is damaged by it differently. It is not true that young children have no awareness of stuttering. They may not yet be able to name the problem, but they hear that they "speak strangely," see impatient faces, hear constant correction and often criticism. This leads very quickly to camouflage techniques, creating schemes to hide the defect, which the later it is, the harder it is to get rid of.
Certainly, this affliction must not be made a taboo subject, and it is imperative to support loved ones who have begun therapy. There is no single recipe for treatment, it is often necessary to try several methods, several therapists. The earlier we start treating stuttering, the faster the therapy will bring results.
So, if you notice that your child is acting restlessly and stuttering, avoiding the listener's gaze when talking, having days when he is completely silent or speaks in half-words, receiving abysmal grades even though he is studying diligently, seek help.
The neglected problem grows exponentially during adolescence, when environmental acceptance plays a special role. It already takes teenagers a minimum of 3 to 4 years to heal.
Stuttering adults, devastated by this affliction, often with symptoms of depression and even psychosis, are particularly arduous to treat. It requires time, commitment on the part of the stutterer and his loved ones. But there is hope, and it's worth doing everything to wring out the power and finally, after many years, be able to express oneself.
IMPORTANT!
Stuttering, especially with other accompanying ailments, can be considered a type of disability. On the basis of medical certificates and the opinions of stuttering therapists, it is possible to apply for the status of a disabled person and obtain, for example, subsidies for rehabilitation holidays from the funds of the National Rehabilitation Fund. For more information, among others, see: www.pfron.org.pl and www.niepelnosprawni.pl
