Stuttering Treatment - The Most Effective Methods

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Modern treatments for stuttering

Stuttering is a disorder that has been successfully treated today. In the therapy of logoneurosis, both traditional methods and innovative developments of recent years are used.

Content:

• Traditional treatments for stuttering
• Non-traditional approaches to stuttering treatment
• A comprehensive approach to stuttering treatment
• Opinions of various authors on the treatment of stuttering

Traditional treatments for stuttering

Surely many people have noticed such a feature in stuttering patients - their speech impairment disappears while singing. This is because the words are chanted, so breathing works differently. It is this characteristic of human speech that formed the basis for the treatment of stuttering by the method of breathing exercises.

Respiratory gymnastics according to Strelnikova in the treatment of stuttering

Strelnikova A. N. developed a set of exercises aimed at working out the respiratory organs. Performing gymnastics allows you to normalize the child's speech, helps him get rid of stuttering. Not only children, but also adults can study according to the Strelnikova system. Of course, it will be more difficult for them to cope with stuttering than for little patients, but progress will certainly be noticed.

Strelnikova's complex includes 10 exercises. Below we will describe two of them, which are fundamental in stuttering.

It is their doctors who recommend using most often:

• Exercise "Pump". It is necessary to stand up straight, lower your arms down, tilt your body forward so that your back is slightly rounded. The neck is relaxed, the head is lowered down. Then the person takes a quick breath and rises slightly, but cannot fully straighten up. After inhalation, a prolonged exhalation follows. Then you need to bend over to the starting position again and take a deep and quick breath, and then a long exhale.

• Exercise "Turning the head". The person stands up straight, puts his hands down and relaxes. Then you need to turn your head to the left and take a quick breath so that the sound can be heard. Turning the head from left to right, the patient exhales. It must be long, you cannot stop or pause. When the head is turned to the right, they again take a noisy breath and, exhaling, begin to turn, but already to the left.

When doing the exercises, you need to monitor the muscles of the neck. They should not be strained. Hands and body must remain motionless. Short breaks should be taken between exercises. 3 approaches are performed per day, each approach consists of 32 breaths.

Technique for performing the "pump" exercise:

Technique for the exercise "hug your shoulders":

Thanks to breathing exercises, a person learns to breathe correctly, control the depth of inhalation, straighten the lungs, filling them with air. In parallel, the muscles of the diaphragm are strengthened. It is she who is directly involved in voice formation. Ligaments become mobile, a person learns to speak without hesitation.

It is recommended to train the respiratory organs for 15 minutes, in the morning, afternoon and evening. You should not expect that after 2-3 sessions, a person will begin to speak like the best speaker. The first results can be seen not earlier than in 2-3 months. The voice will become natural, it will become free, breathing will be easier, sounds will begin to come out easier. Stuttering will become rare.

Speech therapy classes

A speech therapist most often deals with a group of children who suffer from stuttering. There are many techniques to correct a child's speech impediment.

The most popular of them are:

• Methodology Vygodskaya, Uspenskaya and Pellinger. The course consists of 36 lessons and lasts 8-12 weeks. A speech therapist, during training, recreates play situations in which children use their speech. Gradually, students move on to conversation in detailed phrases. A speech therapist shows them exercises that can help relax muscles and relieve emotional stress.

• Smirnov's technique. You need to do this program every day. The duration of one lesson is 20 minutes. Exercises are performed in a playful way. The full course is designed for 7.5 months, that is, for one academic year.

  Thanks to classes, it is possible to achieve the following goals:

  • Normalize the rate of speech.
  • Instill a sense of rhythm.
  • Improve fine motor skills.
  • Relieve muscle tension.
  • Improve speech.
• Silvestrov's technique. The course lasts about 4 months and consists of 36 lessons. During its implementation, the patient goes through three stages. At the stage of preparation, the specialist establishes communication with the child, this takes place in a comfortable environment for him. The training stage is reduced to the transition from quiet speech to loud speech. Calm games are replaced by emotional activities. During this period, parents are involved in work. The last stage is reinforcing, during which the child develops the ability to speak slowly and fluently. For this purpose, use long stories, conversations, reading.
• Shklovsky's technique. The treatment course lasts 3 months. All this time, the person must be in the hospital. The patient will interact with a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, neuropathologist. First, the patient will undergo a comprehensive examination to identify the true cause of the speech impairment. Then the already formed pathological skills will need to be destroyed. The final stage of therapy is the study of the delivered speech in life situations. In the course of therapy, the patient becomes self-confident, he begins to understand that he is able to cope with stuttering in any situations, regardless of their level of emotionality.
• Harutyunyan's method. Treatment is carried out both in a hospital (the first 24 days) and on an outpatient basis (5 courses of 5-7 days, which are carried out throughout the year). The patient's speech is synchronized with the movements of the fingers of the leading hand. This allows the patient to form a new psychological attitude, which provides a calm emotional background, allows you to maintain an even intonation, control facial expressions and posture.

The methodology of Silvestrov, Smirnov and Vygodskaya is intended for the treatment of stuttering in preschool children. To cope with such a problem in adolescents or adult patients, the Shklovsky method or the Harutyunyan method is used.

The patient's speech is slowed down. This allows you to get rid of stuttering from the very first workouts. It accelerates over time.

Non-traditional approaches to stuttering treatment

In addition to traditional methods of stuttering treatment, there are other approaches to solving this problem. These include the Breath Maker multicomputer complex. It allows you to create a kind of "prosthesis" that connects the two centers of the brain responsible for the process of speech recognition (Broca's center and Wernicke's center). During classes, a person says phrases into a microphone. A special program records his speech and corrects it. The correct option is a person hears through headphones. At this time, the brain analyzes the information received and stores it. As a result, it is possible to relieve tension from the speech center.

This technique allows you to eliminate psychological discomfort, increase self-confidence. It has been proven that a person with a stutter considers even minor hesitations in his speech to be critical. He mistakenly believes that people notice them. This contributes to excessive psychological stress and exacerbates speech disorders.

The next unconventional technique for dealing with stuttering is acupressure. The course should be long, this is the only way to achieve success. Although a noticeable improvement in speech is often observed after the first session. Such success leads to the fact that patients consider themselves recovered and refuse further therapy. However, in order to cope with the problem, acupressure should be carried out in courses that are repeated 1 time in 6 months.

It is not necessary to visit a specialist for acupressure. The procedure can be performed at home. However, a professional should teach the patient the technique of acupressure. In the future, you can proceed to self-medication.

A comprehensive approach to stuttering treatment

You can cope with stuttering using neurological techniques.

A person will need to follow the following recommendations of specialists:

• Take medications. The doctor may prescribe drugs that inhibit the excessive activity of psychological processes and eliminate seizures. Taking tranquilizers is also shown.
• Take sedatives. Preference is given to herbal medicines.
• Take reflexology and acupuncture courses.
• Take medications aimed at increasing immunity and strengthening the nervous system.
• Attend psychotherapy sessions.

Stuttering is a common problem, which is why medical science is constantly looking for solutions to fix it. In America, not so long ago, a drug was developed to treat patients with stuttering. He has already been tested in laboratory mice. Therefore, it is likely that this disorder can soon be dealt with with drugs. D. Maguire, who works at the University of California, is convinced that stuttering is caused by excess dopamine production in the body. You can suppress its production with Haloperidol. However, this drug has many side effects, so it cannot be taken on a massive scale. The doctor suggests using Olanzapine to treat stuttering. This drug is undergoing clinical trials and will soon be launched into mass production (subject to successful trials).

Of course, parents whose children suffer from stuttering are seriously concerned about this problem. Moreover, his treatment takes a long time. This pushes adults to rash acts. They turn to healers and witches to cure a child from stuttering with conspiracies. However, cases of "magic" getting rid of the problem are conveyed only in words, but there is not a single document that would confirm these miracles. Therefore, more should be trusted to official medicine, which has made an impressive breakthrough in this area.

Opinions of various authors on the treatment of stuttering

• Volkova G. A. (1979, 1994). The professor is of the opinion that children who suffer from stuttering should be dealt with exclusively through the prism of play. This allows you to simulate various situations that work through events inherent in real life. Thus, it will be possible to normalize the process of interaction with other people. As a result, the child develops the necessary personal qualities, the existing deviations are corrected.
• Gerkina M. I. (1972). The scientist took into account the fact that stuttering has a situational nature, so she proposed to carry out the correction of speech with the help of plot games. First, the child works out a fictional plot situation in which the real interlocutor is absent. Then they move on to role-playing games. The speech therapist proposes a plot, during the implementation of which it stimulates the child's active speech, directs it in the right direction. A similar approach was followed by EM Pellinger and her co-authors (1995).
• Cheveleva N. A. (1978). The scientist believes that for the most effective correction of stuttering in children, it is best to use quiet activities. She indicates that the optimal occupation for this is work, namely, the creation of crafts. Therapy involves the sequential passage of several stages: propaedeutic (speech based on visual images), final speech (characterizes the performed action), preliminary speech (without reference to the past), consolidation of active speech. At the same time, the author of the methodology completely rejected the idea of using breathing, speech and other exercises.
• Yastrebova A. V. (1999). She created a program to treat students with stuttering. The scientist proposed a number of speech therapy classes that pursue the formation of free speech skills, the improvement of thought processes, the development of the ability to quickly restructure attention from one type of activity to another.
• Bogomolov (1977). The author is of the opinion that one should not pay too much attention to the elaboration of neurological disorders. She is convinced that it is possible to cope with stuttering with the help of speech therapy classes, and in the process of correcting speech, the neurological sphere will recover on its own. She offers to work out the speech, accompanying it with conducting hand movements.
• T. Berendes (1963). The author's methodology is based on the use of G. Staabs's "scene test". From the staged games that the child himself builds, it is possible to isolate the latent conflict, which, according to the scientist, leads to stuttering. At the same time, the baby gets rid of internal psychological stress. The author proposes to enhance the therapeutic effect with the help of autogenous exercises and hypnosis.
• Seliverstov V. I. (2000). His program is designed for inpatient therapy. The child will have to do speech exercises. Their complexity is determined depending on the existing speech disorders.
• Abeleva I. Yu. (1969). She suggests starting the correction of stuttering by working out the speech technique. For this, the child will have to perform voice, breathing and articulation exercises. In the future, he is offered to perform speech tasks, which are gradually becoming more difficult. However, modern science indicates that in addition to speech exercises, the patient should receive physiotherapy, psychotherapeutic and medication.
• Lyubinskaya S. M. (1970), Missulovin L. Ya. (1988), Nekrasova Yu. B., Orlovskaya S. F. (1966), Shklovsky V. M. (1979, 1994). These authors at various times have developed their own methods for the treatment of stuttering in children. However, all their works are united by the fact that they propose to use autogenous training not as a mono method, but in combination with psychotherapeutic influence and taking medications.
• Karvasarsky B. D. (1990). He offers group therapy sessions that are combined with elements of imperative suggestion according to K. M. Dubrovsky (1966). At the same time, the fear of speech that patients experience must be opposed to new positive emotions.
• Nekrasova Yu. B. (1984). The author proposes a technique that allows for a short time period to change the patient's attitude to suffering. Sessions of emotional stress therapy, which, among other things, were offered by Karvasarsky, make it possible to form a person's readiness to overcome the existing psychological barrier. This will allow him to talk without hesitation, even at the peak of emotional excitement.
• Shklovsky V. M. (1994). The scientist introduced a session of suggestion into a complex treatment regimen while a person is awake. This method allows the patient to cope with the fear of speech when emotionally disturbed. Treatment methods are adapted to the age of the patients.
• Max L., Cariso A (1997), Onslow M (1997). Scientists have pointed out that under the influence of speech therapy training, the prosodic side of speech changes in patients, which is very important in terms of getting rid of stuttering.
• Zeetan M. (1962). The author considers speech slowdown to be the main principle of treatment. This allows the patient to control his breathing, voice and articulation, and also relieves muscle tension, makes it possible to avoid seizures. The author has an extremely negative attitude towards monotonous speech, which has no dynamics.
• G. Andrews (1982, 1983), PA Resick, P. Wendiggensen, S. Ates, V. Meyer (1975). The authors are of the opinion that the maximum result can be achieved if the patient is taught with slow speech techniques. Some scientists even believe that this technique alone is enough to cure a person from stuttering.
• Povarova I. A. (2000, 2001, 2002). The author believes that the violation of the tempo and rhythm of speech is the main problem of stuttering people. If we trace the dynamics of these indicators in a particular patient, it will be possible to create the most effective scheme of speech therapy influence. It is imperative to work on the patient's intonation. Expressive speech must be formed from the first lessons.
• Yastrebova A. Ya. (1962, 1999). The author emphasizes the need to work out the patient's intonation. She suggests focusing efforts on developing the ability to listen to the speech of another person. The more expressive the patient's speech is, the more efforts he will make in order to control his own voice. Treatment should be systematic and move from easy tasks to difficult ones.
• Shembel A. G. (1961). The author suggests starting work on intonation at the final stage of speech therapy. However, medical science does not agree with this approach.
• A. Liebmann (1901). The author was categorically against monotonous speech in the treatment of patients, since it attracts even more attention from the people around him. Thus, aggravating the psychological discomfort of the stutter and negatively affecting the progression of the disorder. However, he did not deny that in some cases monotonous speech should still be used.
• I. A. Sikorsky (1889). Back in 1889, the scientist established that monotonous speech cannot have a positive effect on the treatment of patients with stuttering, but it is advisable to use it at the initial stages of treatment of the disease. This technique allows you to stop the spasms of the muscles responsible for speech.
• Tyapugin N. P. (1966). The scientist pointed out that regardless of the patient's age, it is necessary to direct efforts to re-educate the patient's speech. The author believes that you need to teach a person to speak fluently and at a slightly slower pace.
• J. Brady (1969). The scientist believes that a slight slowdown in the rate of speech allows you to cope with seizures, which means, with almost any case of stuttering.
• Meshcherskaya L. N. (1982). She points out that slowing down the rate of speech negatively affects the treatment of stuttering. At the same time, the author does not recommend completely abandoning the slowdown, but, in her opinion, it should be minimal. The patient's speech itself should be close to the normal pace.
• G. Andrews, P. Howie (1981). At the initial stage of treatment, scientists suggest slowing down speech to 50 syllables per minute. Then gradually the rate of speech should be increased.
• Wiesel T. G. (1997). The scientist insists that the rate of speech, regardless of the type of therapeutic effect on the patient, should be normal, but taking into account his individual characteristics of the speed of pronunciation of words. As the patient masters the basics of the program, it is required to complicate the rhythm and semantic load of the phrases that he pronounces.
• Andronova L. Z. (1993). The author points out that educators and scientists should not force the patient to slow down his speech. She recommends starting the therapy process by speaking words by syllable, combined with the movements of the fingers.
• Vessat O. V. (1983), Zhinkin N. I. (1958), Kuzmin Yu. I. (1991), Missulovin (1988). These authors studied the effect of instrumentation on the treatment of stuttering. Practice has shown that damping speech with noise does not bring a positive effect. While the delay in acoustic feedback can reduce the amount of stuttering and slow down the patient's speech. The authors proposed a method of stuttering treatment using the AIR apparatus.
• Danilov I. V., Cherepanov I. M. (1970). Scientists have studied the effect of the metronome on the speech of patients. They were able to establish that 60 beats of the metronome per minute can increase the speech speed of patients with tonic disorders by 83%. The frequency of 2.17 Hz makes it possible to increase the speech rate of patients with clonic stuttering.
• Lokhov M. I., Fesenko Yu. A. (2000). They found that the optimal fusion of speech in patients with a mixed type of stuttering can be formed at a metronome frequency of 1.4 Hz.
• Andronova L. Z., Lokhov M. I. (1983). Scientists have developed a method for the treatment of stuttering, which is based on photophonostimulation while administering small doses of Etimizole. The frequency of photophonostimulation is selected on the basis of the conducted EEG, during which the assimilation of the rhythm by a particular patient is established.
• Angushev G. I. (1974). The scientist devoted his works to the process of studying the role of voluntary control of the activity that a person performs. He found that in stuttering individuals, the regulation of voluntary and involuntary actions is higher than in healthy people. This leads to the fact that the work of the speech apparatus does not lend itself to automation. To achieve automatism requires constant training.
• Korolevskaya T. K. (1996), Orlova O. S. (2003), Povarova I. A. (1995), Smetankin A. A. (1999, 2002). These scientists pointed to the positive effect of the biofeedback method (biofeedback) on the process of speech formation. Training using this method allows the patient to develop a new stereotype of speech formation. The patient learns to control the respiratory function, improves the skills of voice formation.

As it becomes clear, there are many approaches to the treatment of stuttering. However, modern views are such that comprehensive treatment is required to completely get rid of a speech defect.

Author of the article: Sokov Andrey Vladimirovich | Neurologist

Education: In 2005 completed an internship at the IM Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University and received a diploma in Neurology. In 2009, completed postgraduate studies in the specialty "Nervous diseases".