Stuttering; It is a communication disorder related to the fluency of speech. Rhythm and timing are of great importance in fluent speech. Disturbances in fluency, inappropriate pauses, repetitions and similar problems affect the natural flow of speech. Stuttering is an adjustment and behavior disorder that usually occurs in children after they start to speak at preschool age. While the child speaks very well in the first months, he starts to talk and stutter after an incident. Stuttering is often of psychological origin rather than organic pathology. It is seen in 3% of the society.
At what age does it start?
Although stuttering usually occurs in the early stages of language development (2-6 years), the average age of onset is 5 years. In some cases, it can be seen in school age, rarely in adulthood. According to statistics, almost half of them go away on their own, the other half stays. It is usually seen in younger children in the family. It is 3-4 times more common in men than women. It is more common in urban areas than in rural areas.
It has been determined that older stuttering cases have more pauses, interruptions in airflow, pressure applied to the vocal cords, fear of communicating, and avoidance of speaking situations more.
In general, it was determined that boys stutter at a more complex level than girls, stutter more, try to make eye contact with others less, avoid communicating, and therefore their treatment takes longer.
In some cases, it disappears during the transition to adulthood, and untreated cases last a lifetime.
In what situations does it become evident?
Crowded environments with strangers become evident in situations such as answering the phone, asking someone for something, encountering an unexpected situation unprepared, in front of a person in a position of authority. They try to avoid such situations that they fear. They try to complete the sentence by replacing a word they cannot say with a synonym. They may have difficulty answering their names when asked. That’s why they leave these things to their relatives. For this reason, students try to sit in the back rows, do not raise their hands, prefer to listen in speeches, respond late when taking roll calls, or show avoidance behavior by raising their hands. They tend to respond more with their facial expressions. Instead of saying or wanting something new, they indicate that they agree with others or want the same thing. They order not what they want, but what is easy to say.
They may have trouble making the first sound when they stop to ask a road attendant, the police, for an address. In these cases, tics such as hand or foot shaking, foot tapping, bass and neck movements, eye, muscle and lip movements may accompany in order to facilitate speech and make that sound.
In what situations does it decrease/disappear?
Singing, swearing, praying, reading with a choir or another person, speaking in a whisper, speaking to young children, speaking under the influence of loud/masking noise, monotonous speech, speaking in rhythm. In speaking situations like these, you can find that even the most severe stutterers can speak quite fluently.
