Speech disorders are one of the most disturbing conditions for the child and his family. The way stuttering starts and its process is a problem in the mind of the family. Is it temporary? Can it be permanent? Or we have often come across expressions such as “until yesterday, he had a very beautiful, fluid, grainy speech, everyone would be amazed at his smooth speech”.
The child’s stuttering affects the psychology of the family and the child according to the age group characteristics. The child begins to express himself and prepare the infrastructure for speech, first by crying and later by gurgling and gurgling in infancy. Sounds turn into syllables and repetitions of these syllables. The first words begin with syllable repetitions such as father-ba, de-de around the age of 1 year. By combining them, single words are said. Then, short verbs such as take, throw, hold are used to determine the action. The child can express himself, his wishes and needs.
There is great joy in the family with the construction of short sentences over time, and every day a new word is included in the usage and it is followed up. Expectations rise. “He used that word today. Have you heard of this word? Parents share their excitement and joy with expressions such as “I heard it for the first time”.
The number of words in the sentence increases with the beginning of the child’s relations with other people, social processes such as communication with relatives, observations, nursery school and kindergarten. The child begins to express himself by using longer sentences. With a sense of curiosity, questions multiply. Answers are sought. With the interaction within the family, the child is informed about both himself and his environment. This knowledge brings with it the feelings of liking and feeling important in the child.
While all these positive feelings continue, the child’s lengthening of the first letters in words, repeating syllables, and hanging on attract the attention of the family and the child begins to be warned. The family wonders what to do. His children, who had expressed themselves very well until that day and became the center of attention with his speech, became different.
The child begins to lose self-confidence, does not want to talk in front of others and becomes withdrawn.
Self-confidence is one of the most important factors shaping future life. Being able to participate in social life and achieve success in school and business life is possible by gaining self-confidence. Having life skills, being individual, establishing a family and providing a peaceful environment in the family, being independent are the results of having self-confidence.
These situations in speech create stress in the child and he/she feels unhappy. His efforts to speak are in vain and he is not getting the result he wants. Therefore, moodiness and irritability manifest themselves in a certain way. There may be tantrums.
The child, who sees that the family cannot succeed with the efforts of correction, runs away from people and experiences a sense of failure. It is an obstacle to the socialization of the child. The mostly well-intentioned attitudes of the environment and paying attention to the conversation cause a feeling of discomfort. The sense of failure experienced by the efforts of each individual in the environment increases exponentially. If the child does not go to kindergarten, no matter how little peer pressure is, there is a feeling of introversion and being away from social life. The success of being accepted by other children in the kindergarten can be possible with the efforts of the teacher. Primary school children may experience ruthless attention to differences and ridicule as a reflection of their development. Feelings of jealousy and not being able to attract normal talking friends may be experienced. The large number of students in the class; With the emphasis on the lessons and the curriculum, there may be cases of oversight. Problems can progress if the vulnerability is of particular concern and goes unnoticed for a period of time. In adolescence, which is already a special period, it requires attention as it is the period when friends and environment are placed in the first place and self-care and importance increase. In order for it not to become entrenched, possible solutions should be tried, pedagogues should be supported for stuttering that is not caused by physical reasons, and the child’s psychology should be given due importance.
ÖZNUR SİMAV-PEDAGOG
FOUNDER- EDUCATION-STUDENTS COACH- FAMILY COUNSELOR
