Stuttering as a form of speech disorder | Speech disorder in children

Stuttering as a form of speech disorder

Stuttering is a very well known disturbance of the speech flow. In stuttering, sentences are often interrupted and certain sounds are repeated (example: w-w-what?). It appears as if the person affected is stuck in one place.

The “pressing” of certain letters is also typical for stuttering. The causes of stuttering can be divided into two groups. On the one hand, there are psychological reasons which lead to stuttering.

On the other hand, stuttering increases nervousness and fear. In children, however, stuttering often occurs without any recognizable reason. In fact, stuttering is a common step that occurs in childhood. Between the ages of two and five, the phenomenon often occurs that children look for a word and repeat it as long as it is repeated. Usually, however, this stuttering disappears again as the children’s speech progresses.

Dyslalia as a form of speech disorder

The term dyslalia was previously often used to describe an articulation disorder. It is a collective term for various disorders. The disorders always concern the pronunciation of words or sounds.

A very well-known form of articulation disorder or dyslalia is lisping. Here, S sounds are not formed correctly and a hissing sound is produced. It is said that a child should be able to pronounce all speech sounds correctly by his or her sixth birthday.

Up to this age, mispronunciation errors are normal and are part of a language development. If, however, after the sixth birthday, the child’s pronunciation becomes incorrect, one can speak of an articulation disorder. The reasons for this are many and varied.

On the one hand, weak or insufficiently coordinated muscles of the mouth can be the reason. A hearing disorder or a lack of discrimination for similar sounds can also be the cause of the articulation disorder. A hearing test at the doctor’s should rule out a hearing disorder. The correct pronunciation can be promoted by a speech therapist. Here, for example, exercises are used to strengthen the mouth motor skills.