One percent of adults in Germany stutter. These 800,000 stutterers are exposed to enormous psychological pressure, they are insecure and not infrequently isolated. Children stutter particularly frequently – but this is not always a cause for concern. Aristotle, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, “Mr. Bean” Rowan Atkinson, Bruce Willis and Dieter Thomas Heck are prominent examples that stuttering can be overcome. However, experts do not speak of a cure, because only rarely do patients succeed in speaking completely without stuttering.
Stuttering is loss of control
Stuttering is the loss of control over the speech apparatus, not at all a psychological disorder. Stuttering can be divided into three different forms: clonic stuttering, in which individual letters are repeated during speech, tonic stuttering, in which the flow of speech is interrupted, downright blocked, and a mixed form of clonic and tonic stuttering. During stuttering, the body tenses, the facial muscles tighten, breathing becomes irregular, the patient blushes and sweats. Many stutterers are masters of avoidance, namely of words and situations, which leads to great psychological stress at work and in leisure time. If negative reactions from fellow human beings are added, ridicule or even rejection, isolation follows all too often.
Stuttering in childhood – do not overreact
Stuttering begins early, namely in childhood between two and five years, when the child develops particularly quickly linguistically, physically, mentally and emotionally. About five percent of all children stutter. But by the time they reach puberty, stuttering fades in most young people – only one percent of children really stutter and need treatment. Boys, by the way, are four times more likely to be affected than girls. “Parents should not overreact if their children start stuttering when they speak between the ages of three and five,” explains Professor Schade, an expert in voice, speech, swallowing and childhood hearing disorders at the University of Bonn.
If one responds too much to the child’s stuttering, interrupts, corrects or even admonishes, the problem worsens. Since most children naturally like to speak, such objections draw their attention to their problem. This is how they develop a fear of speaking in the first place. If children do not speak about 50 out of 1,000 words fluently, there is no cause for alarm yet because an excited or agile child often repeats a few words or incorporates several “uhs” in the heat of the narrative.
However, if syllables or letters (“Scho-scho-kolade,” “P-p-p-ause”) are repeated or drawn out (“Huuuu-nd”) over a period of months, parents should seek expert advice. The reason why some children start stuttering is unknown. However, it is now known that a predisposition to stuttering can be inherited, as people who stutter are about three times more likely to have family members who stutter than people without these symptoms.
