How to curb a stammer

Is your child tripping on words while talking to you? That could be a sign of low self confidence, says Krishna Kumar.

The movie The King’s Speech stirred tremendous interest in stuttering. The film tells the story of King George VI and his efforts to deal with his handicap of stuttering.

We meet people in real life with speech dysfunctions like when the flow of speech is broken by repetitions (“li-li-like”), prolongations (“lllllike”), or abnormal stoppages (no sound) with sounds and syllables.  This may occur when they are talking on the telephone, dealing with difficult situations such as job interviews or while answering a teacher. All this is nothing but stuttering.

Numerous research work has shown that stuttering has a strong link to self confidence. People who are low on self confidence appear to be shy; do not take initiative or make and keep friends; rarely whine or complain and display fear unnecessarily. They also do not share a dynamic relationship with parents and siblings.

Unfortunately, many youngsters are now becoming depressed at an early age — a pattern that was rare several decades ago. The rate of stuttering in youngsters is also increasing in the developed world.

About 1 per cent of the general population suffers from long-term severe stuttering, and 4 per cent of school-aged children suffer from the problem. The handicap typically reduces or gets alleviated in their early 20s but the damage   may cause social stigma and negative perception of self, both of which can have long-term effects. Addressing stuttering in children as early as possible is essential.

Those with low self-confidence are known to stammer. They stammer because they are constantly worried that they may be speaking incorrectly, provoking their peers to laugh at them.

Children who are bullied by other children or are scolded by their parents over a period of time may fall into the low self-esteem trap and think very little of themselves, and thus stammer as then they have no control of their speech.
Children who are unable to frame emotions and lack confidence are usually tense around strangers, thus causing a stammer.

It is a known fact that unengaging and over-commanding parents cause a child’s self-confidence to deteriorate. While some parents believe that materialistic goods are more important to children than spending time with them, the child is subjected to a lot of pressure to perform well in academics, sports or fine arts to please the parents. This can lead to unnecessary stress at a very young age.

The increasing rate of divorces and children having to deal with moving from one parent to another and step-parents are also contributing factors to low self-confidence and stuttering.

A series of American studies indicate  that children below the age of 10 with divorced parents are almost twice as more likely to develop stuttering.
Developing self-confidence and reducing stuttering in your child can be done through several methods.

*One of the most effective methods is by helping them improve their communication skills. Allowing them to express themselves and admiring their efforts are crucial.
nPraise is the key factor in making a child confident.

*Dealing with embarrassing situations in a sensitive manner will help restore lost confidence

*Giving children opportunities to develop their talents and social skills also reduce language difficulties and stuttering in children to a great degree.

*Ensuring that your children are engaged in sports and extra-curricular activities, allowed to explore and learn, have the ability to discuss problems with you and feel like their opinion counts are also important

*Make sure you let them know that it is alright to make mistakes, even if the audience laughs when they get stuck for words.

The real cure for stuttering lies in knowledge and understanding. There are several speech therapy classes and facilities that specialise in helping people with stutters live a normal life, and all it takes is for people to understand.

At speech and hearing clinics,  experienced speech pathologists spend time with parents and children for a detailed evaluation in order to find out if there is a problem.

Depending on the severity of the problem and other factors, a therapy plan would be drawn up for the child and parents are given a comprehensive explanation of the diagnosis and therapy techniques to be adopted, and the course of  therapy.

(The author is an audiologist at Rajan Speech and Hearing Centre.)