The Dyspnoea or stuttering Can be normal in young children when they begin to elaborate long phrases.
Are you stuttering and embarrassed to speak in public? You may have noticed that your child stutters when speaking and you are wondering if it is a temporary disorder or if you will also stutter when you are older.
But if the stuttering is prolonged in time and causes frustration and shame, then dysphoria can become a real problem.
If you want to know more about the different types of stuttering and its causes, continue reading this interesting article.
What is dysphoria really?
Dysplasia, more commonly known as stuttering, is a communication disorder that affects hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
Although it is a quite frequent disorder, it is not yet exactly known its causes.
This alteration of speech affects verbal fluency and is characterized by abnormally long pauses in speaking and involuntary repetitions of syllables, among other symptoms, which causes a marked distortion in speech and in general causes discomfort and frustration in the sufferer.
Have you ever wondered why people can not control their stuttering? Have you noticed that when you are nervous or anxious the symptoms get worse?
The causes that are related to this disorder are varied, although they share a common root.
Frequency of stuttering
According to the American Stuttering Association , About 5% of children go through a stage of stuttering that lasts for six months or more.
Approximately 3 out of 4 children who start stuttering stop doing it as a teenager.
Whether for professional help, or the favorable conditions that your family and / or the environment offer you, most children overcome the problem and manage to communicate fluently. Only 1% continue the problem chronically.
In the United States alone, an estimated 3 million people are stuttering.
When the figures are analyzed according to sex, it is found that 75% of stuttering children or adolescents are male. In some families stuttering is more frequent, so it is believed that there are genetic factors that influence.
Types of Stuttering
- Initial or Developmental Stuttering
Stuttering that begins at an early age (between three and four years) and later disappears on its own, is considered a normal stage of language development and generally poses no problem. It is called initial or developmental stuttering.
Children of this age usually make sentences mentally with a certain speed but they still have difficulty pronouncing certain words, and it is natural for them to pause or repeat syllables, but it is not a matter of dysphoria proper.
Most children do not feel embarrassment or frustration when they repeat syllables and often do not even realize what happens to them.
This type of stuttering can appear and disappear during a certain time and then diminish and disappear definitively, without needing treatment.
- Disorders of stuttering
On the other hand, stuttering that worsens over time, which presents a regular pattern, which makes the person tense and avoid public speaking For fear of ridicule, is the real dysphoria.
This disorder also usually appears in childhood and affects four times more men than women.
These are your symptoms:
Repeat sounds, parts of words and sometimes whole words.
Make long pauses between words or within a single word.
Tension or discomfort when speaking, anxiety and anxiety.
Incomplete sentences.
Withdrawal, avoid public speaking, blushing, shyness.
Tics, involuntary movements in the muscles of the face when speaking.
Lack of respiratory coordination when speaking.
Symptoms worsen when the person is nervous, anxious, stressed, or tired.
According to the Alterations that occur when speaking , There are different categorizations of stuttering:
Tonic stuttering . In this case, the speech is completely interrupted. The person seems to need to take a breath and after a few minutes, pronounce words quickly. Then there is silence again.
At the organic level there is a muscular immobilization or a spasm. The diaphragm contracts and then releases the air as soon as verbal expression occurs.
Cloned stuttering . Here we see a repetition of certain syllables, completely involuntary. The person realizes that he repeats it but can not control it. The words sound explosively.
Have you ever heard someone who tries three or four times to say a word and only to the fourth or fifth time can express it? That kind of stuttering is clonic.
Tonic-clonic stuttering . This third class is a combination of the two above. It is the most frequent.
Causes of dysphoria
Currently, stuttering is believed to be a problem in which several factors influence. Although the exact cause is not known, it is believed that these are the most important factors:
Differences in the functioning of the cerebral hemispheres
Researchers have shown that in people with stuttering, brain hemispheres Are activated differently.
Genetic causes
Stuttering can be hereditary; A son of a stuttering person has a much greater risk of being stuttering.
It is believed that in people with stuttering genes are expressed differently, altering communication between the neurons in charge of the speech area in the brain and the neurons that move the muscles needed to speak.
Brain Injury
Trauma and strokes cause brain damage that can cause stuttering.
Psychological and social causes
On this ground has been deepened. The different treatments for correcting or reducing stuttering go in this direction.
When a child shows problems in using language, he immediately begins to suffer from conditions that are unfavorable to him.
The mockery of their fellows, the impatience of their teachers, and even that of their own family. Many times parents think that the child simply has not learned to speak well and is pressured so that he does not stutter anymore.
A problem that can actually have a solution if treated properly is significantly aggravated and prolonged over time due to its psychological and social consequences.
All these patterns of behavior that the environment adopts towards the child, are hurting Your self-esteem And their confidence. That brings An inferiority complex , Which will take you through different roads. But none of them will help you correct your stuttering.
Another psychological risk factor is anxiety. Children or adults who are anxious or are experiencing situations that generate anxiety are more likely to stutter. When stuttering, More anxiety is generated , Establishing a vicious circle from which it is difficult to leave.
Anyway, you have to keep in mind that a stutterer can fluently pronounce all words. Only with some it is blocked, and this blockage can be systematic. If the stuttering stimulus is found and neutralized, the speech can improve markedly.
Is your child stuttering?
In the case of children it can be difficult to differentiate between stuttering that is normal in the learning process when speaking and a true communication disorder.
As mentioned earlier, if you have a child of three or four years, it is normal to appreciate a series of"errors"when speaking. At that stage, the language function is in full development and it is normal for them to pause and repeat syllables.
When they want to say a long phrase and are wrong, they repeat or start again. So far this is normal, and these are normal disfluencies.
Now, when the child begins to leave long spaces of time between one word and the other or when it shows difficulties in certain types of syllables, you have to pay attention.
If the child asks a question and is slow to respond, it is a warning sign. The principles and endings of sentences are the ones that cost the most to pronounce for stuttering people.
When the difficulty in pronouncing certain syllables does not diminish or disappear over time, it is another symptom of dysphoria. In all cases, this type of disorder must be diagnosed by a health professional (especially speech therapist).
Treatments for dysphonia
It is important to emphasize that the symptoms of dysphonia can be greatly improved, because the psychological factors associated with the disorder can be neutralized.
For this it is fundamental not to react negatively to the difficulties to speak, reducing anxiety, self-criticism or impatience, because in this way the problem will worsen rather than improve.
The support of the family and the environment is also very important, especially in children. There are techniques that help to talk in a relaxed environment, reinforcing speech with gestures and head movements, which helps improve verbal fluency and avoid stuttering.
If you are stutterer or you think your child is, learn properly about the subject and seek professional help, because stuttering has a solution. Do not let it become a stigma.
What is your experience with dysphoria?