What unites all these people? Isaac Newton, George VI, Joe Biden, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Gérard Depardieu, Bruce Willis, Konstantin Meladze, and many others. They all had stuttering, yet it didn't prevent them from being successful and famous.

So, what is stuttering? It's a disruption of the rhythm, pace, and fluency of speech, associated with spasmodic excitability of the speech muscles, which disrupts speech breathing and communicative speech function. (A.I. Sikorsky, M.E. Khvatsev)

Prevalence of Stuttering

Stuttering affects 1% to 5% of the population worldwide, or 60 million people. It's four times more common in males than females, and in 90–95% of cases, it occurs between the ages of 2 and 7. Every fiftieth child on the planet stutters. Sometimes, stuttering relapses occur in adolescents aged 15–17. Specialists note that if stuttering manifests at a later age, the causes should be sought in childhood, as it may have gone unnoticed and uncorrected or be a symptom of another condition.

Symptoms and Manifestations of Stuttering:

• Dysprosody
• Closure
• Speech interruptions
• Logophobia
• Irritability
• Spasms
• Leg spasms
• Embolo-phrasia

Types of Stuttering:

• Tonic. Long pauses in words and elongation of vowels.
• Clonic. Repeatedly repeating sounds, syllables, or whole words due to repetitive spasms of the speech muscles.
• Mixed. This form combines features of tonic and clonic stuttering.

The following types of stuttering courses are distinguished:

• Persistent type (stuttering, once it occurs, manifests relatively constantly in various forms of speech and situations)
• Wavelike (stuttering either intensifies or weakens, but never completely disappears)
• Recurrent (after disappearing, stuttering reappears, i.e., a relapse occurs, the return of stuttering after fairly long periods of fluent speech without interruptions)

Causes of stuttering:

The reasons that can trigger stuttering are individual in each case. In adults, neurological causes may be the predisposing factors - brain damage. This can occur after trauma, stroke, disturbances in cerebral blood circulation, as a result of complications from a number of infectious diseases. There are also neurotic factors (psychogenic), including various mental traumas, imbalance in the nervous system.

Diagnosis and Treatment

The diagnosis of stuttering requires a comprehensive approach and thorough examination. Diagnostic testing begins with the assessment of neurological status aimed at identifying signs of brain damage. For this purpose, the following procedures are prescribed:

• Electroencephalography (EEG) - detects changes in brain function by measuring its electrical activity;
• Echoencephalography - an ultrasonic method of studying the brain to detect pathological processes and structural changes;
• Dopplerography and rheoencephalography - examination of the brain's blood vessels using weak electrical impulses;
• CT and MRI - layered visualization of the brain to detect any abnormalities.

A comprehensive approach is applied in overcoming stuttering, including:

• Medications and procedures, massage, physiotherapy;
• Psychotherapy;
• peech therapy sessions, speech rhythmics, breathing exercises;
• Therapeutic exercises, rhythmic exercises, swimming.

Speech therapy correction includes:

1. The first, preparatory, or diagnostic stage of stuttering treatment lasts 2-3 days. After the diagnosis is established, a treatment plan is developed.
2. During the second stage of stuttering treatment (lasting 2 weeks), work is done to normalize breathing, voice, articulation, speech tempo, and rhythm. Various types of speech are practiced: poetry, prose, question-and-answer speech, reading, retelling simple texts, and composing texts based on keywords.
3. The third stage of stuttering treatment involves working on speech logic. This stage lasts 1 week, and emotional spontaneous speech is practiced using fables and dialogues.
4. The fourth stage of stuttering treatment focuses on consolidating the achieved results. Intensive speech training is conducted in various emotionally significant communication conditions with others. The sessions involve analyzing the work done and simulating difficult speech situations for many patients (speaking in front of a large audience with elaborate presentations, phone calls, etc.).

The following tasks are achieved during corrective work:

1. Formation of fluent speech skills (addressed through a range of speech therapy technologies)
2. Influence on the stutterer's personality (implemented through psychotherapy, psychological training, functional exercises, and speech therapy sessions)
3. Prevention of stuttering relapses (maintenance sessions)

Appointments with specialists are scheduled by contacting the Contact Center at the following phone numbers:
+375 (17) 543-44-44
+375 (29) 543-44-45(МТС)
+375 (44) 510-44-46(А1)