It was stated that stuttering is found in two percent of adults and five percent of children worldwide.
Drawing attention to October 22 World Stuttering Day, Mavi Special Education and Rehabilitation Center Expert Speech and Language Therapist Melda Nisan Şahin said that one in every 20 children faces stuttering. Noting that developmental stuttering is more common, Şahin said, “Stuttering can be divided into two as developmental and acquired stuttering. Acquired stuttering is very rare in the society, the incidence rate is very low. Developmental stuttering is seen more intensely. Developmental stuttering starts at the age of 2-4 years and 5 percent of children experience this condition. In a period of six to twelve months, 85-90 percent of stuttering improves spontaneously from the moment it first appears. In the following processes, this condition can become permanent. There are various risk factors for it to become permanent. For example, the fact that the child is male, the presence of stuttering in the family, linguistic factors, psychogenic and environmental factors unfortunately pose a risk for this condition to become permanent.”
“Stuttering is a type of disorder that needs to be evaluated multidimensionally”
Noting that stuttering occurs for multidimensional reasons, Şahin said, “In the society, we can receive feedback such as stuttering, fear, fear of a dog, seeing something in a dream, and then stuttering started. Stuttering is a type of disorder that needs to be evaluated multidimensionally. Stuttering occurs for multidimensional reasons. Genetic, neurological, motor, cognitive, linguistic and emotional factors accompany it and cause it to occur. Fear can only be considered as a triggering factor for stuttering. In fact, there is stuttering on the existing ground, but a fear may be instrumental in its emergence.”
Stating that stuttering is generally seen at a rate of one percent in the world, Şahin said, “Stuttering is seen at a rate of one percent worldwide. Five percent of these are usually seen in children. In adults, stuttering is seen at a rate of one to two percent. Therefore, we see it more in children. In fact, most children experience stuttering, which we call 'disfluency', at some point in their lives. Children can show stuttering-like behaviors by doing a lot of repetitions while acquiring language in the language learning process.”
“No drug treatment is possible in stuttering”
Stating that no drug treatment of stuttering is possible, Şahin said, “No drug treatment is possible in stuttering. If there are accompanying psychological conditions, we can sometimes work together with clinical psychologists.
There is only a speech and language therapy process. Stuttering therapies require active participation and motivation. The client continues this process by setting common goals with the therapist. There is no time limit. The biggest problem in stuttering is about continuing to talk, not continuing to communicate. When the individual does not change his/her existing habits, when the environment does not support him/her much, when he/she finishes his/her sentence or when he/she is the subject of ridicule, he/she may reach the point of cutting off communication. The most important thing for us is that stuttering individuals try to continue to express themselves.”
“It is important to give importance to what you say, not how you say it”
Stating that it is important to pay attention to what the individual says, Şahin said, “Having a profession is a situation where stuttering individuals panic and worry a lot. We have clients who have anxiety about speaking in front of the camera, especially in professions that require some speech, such as journalism and announcers. As long as we control the speech, there is no problem. It is important to pay attention to what you say, not how you say it. Even if we stumble, we can tell a news story in a very good way and convey it to the person in front of us. It is very important what we say, not how we say it.”
“We apply techniques to increase fluency”
Making a statement about the methods applied in therapy, Şahin said, “In therapy, we apply techniques to shape some fluency and increase the fluency of speech. In addition, we apply desensitization and exposure studies. Our aim in desensitization and exposure work is for the individual not to break away from communication and to communicate very comfortably with the people in front of them. In the techniques, our aim is to work on techniques to express themselves more comfortably and more fluently if they belong to a profession that is in front of the camera or in making presentations in their professional life.”
