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Is this your worst nightmare?

Updated on: 25 January,2011 06:13 AM IST  | 
Prachi Sibal |

Some of the most famous faces in the world, once had to struggle to get their words out. All you need to know about stammering, which could be getting in the way of your next promotion, in Active!

Is this your worst nightmare?

Some of the most famous faces in the world, once had to struggle to get their words out. All you need to know about stammering, which could be getting in the way of your next promotion, in Active!

Stammering is a fluency disorder characterised by prolongation, repetition, over-articulation or a lack of continuity in speech patterns. The unclear speech patterns in people who stammer are produced by disruption or blockage due to physiological or psychological reasons.



"Stammering is not a disease. I would prefer to refer to it as a psychosomatic disorder that has its roots in a psychological problem with physiological manifestations," says Dr Jyotsana Dinkar Nadkarni, audiologist and speech language pathologist, Bombay Hospital.

Gender Divide
Visible in children aged around three or four -- at the time when they first start to talk -- stammering can have a series of causes attached to it. Males are more predisposed to the symptoms of stammering than females, according to the experts. "I would say stammering is mostly a male disorder. About 80 to 90 per cent of the cases of stammering that I deal with are males," says Dr Ajit Harisinghani, Speech Therapist, The Speech Foundation, Pune.

Clinical Psychologist Seema Hingorany says, "Boys are four times more likely to stammer than girls, according to research. 25% of all children go through a stage of development during which they stutter. Around 4% may stutter for six months or more. As children get older, the prevalence drops to about 1% in primary and secondary school, and to about 1% for adults".

Children Vs Adults
Adults are equally, if not more prone to stammering. When an adult stammers it results in a cascading effect on his/ her personal and professional life. "Almost 70 per cent of the stammering cases that come to me are that of adults. Sometimes, people don't accept stammering as a problem in childhood," says psychologist Dr Varkha Chulani, Lilavati Hospital.

Dr Harisinghani agrees. "Most of my cases -- almost 90 per cent -- are young adults between the ages of 20 and 40, who are looking for different forms of therapy," he says.

Nature Vs Nurture
Stammering has physiological and psychological causes, but its recurrence within families encourages debate of its likely genetic connection. "Stammering is neurological issue largely affected by the emotional status of the individual. With 65 per cent cases that can be linked to family history, there is likely to be a genetic disposition but it has not been proven. It is most likely to occur in the first-born male child. Only 30 per cent of cases that come to me have no family history linkage," says Dr Harisinghania.u00a0

In many cases though stammering can be linked to imitation of family members or surroundings, anxiety and a stressful environment at home or at the workplace. "Two out of 10 cases that I receive have a family history of stammering. At other times children tend to pick up speech patterns from those around and that may not necessarily be from somebody in the family," says Dr Nadkarni.

Overcoming stammering
Though children and adults may display similar patterns with regard to the speech disorder, the underlying causes may hardly have similarities. The opinion in this aspect is divided, while some experts believe that stammering almost always has a psychological cause attached to it, there are others who admit that stammering can be caused due to physiological reasons as well.

Treatment though, most agree, should be case-specific and tailor-made for the individual. "We refer to them as people who stammer, and not stammerers, and we call therapy a method of overcoming stammering rather than a cure. The process includes case-specific exercises including breathing and speech exercises," says Dr Harisinghani.

In purely psychological cases, especially those concerning children, counseling is a major part of treatment -- for both parents and children.

"We try and ensure the child is secure and comfortable in his/ her atmosphere. In some cases, a child is not aware of the stutter so we urge the parents to ignore the stutter to avoid humiliation. We use Play Therapy for cases like these where a child is treated without being made aware of a speech problem.

Hypnotherapy along with speech therapy are other aids of treatment", says Dr Nadkarni. Other treatment methods include shadow therapy, prolongation, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques that bring the rhythm back into speech patterns to ensure an unobstructed flow of air.

Impact caused
Stammering or stuttering can create a long lasting impression on a person's mind resulting in humiliation and anxiety, which can further distort the speech patterns and make the stammering more complex.

"If left unattended, stammering peaks around the age of eight or ten. It can undermine a child's confidence and self-esteem, affect their interaction with others and hamper their education," says Hingorany.

The film
Directed by Tom Hooper The King's Speech is based on the true story of King George VI, who is crowned the King of England after the sudden death of his father King George V. King George VI (Colin Firth) has suffered a speech impediment from the age of four or five that has made him dread public speaking.

Caught in between the impediment and his duties as the king, he makes desperate attempts to overcome his stammer. Wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) brings her husband to Lionel Logue, an eccentric speech therapist with no formal medical degree. What ensues is a life-long battle against a childhood impediment.

Logue (Geoffrey Rush) has previously worked as a theatre coach and with soldiers of the First World War. Initially rough in his treatment towards the King, Logue later christens him Bertie and slowly helps him battle his way out of the stammer to deliver a radio address that will unite the country in the time of war.

They successfully overcame their stammers...


Hrithik Roshan
The Bollywood star had a pronounced stammer that he worked very hard to overcome.


Julia Roberts
The Hollywood actor and her actor brother Eric Roberts both had stammers, which they eventually overcame.


Paresh Rawal
The Bollywood actor known for his comic time lived with a stuttering problem during his early days and was conscious of public speaking.


Marilyn Monroe
The 1926 born actor who had a rather mysterious death was known for stuttering, but only off-stage. On creen, she would manage to mask her speech impediment.

Tips (for parents) to help children prevent stammering
* Maintain eye contact with your child and try not to avoid him to make speaking easier for a child.

* Do not ask your child to repeat something you do not understand. Attempt to guess what the child is saying and continue on with the conversation

* Reduce the number of questions you ask and allow the child plenty of time to answer.

* Do not tell your child to start all over again, if he stammers.

* Praise the child for things he has done well to increase his confidence.

* Rhymes and singing may help a child to achieve fluency - many children do not stammer when they sing.

*u00a0Never force a child with a stammer to read aloud in front of others. Finding time to do entertaining activities with the child that do not require a great deal of speech will help him or her to relax. Spontaneous, easy talking may then emerge.

What to look for in a speech therapist
Qualification: Ensure the therapist has a graduate/ post-graduate degree from a reputed college in the specific field.

Experience: Once ensured of the qualification, it pays to opt for a therapist who has adequate expertise in the field.

Authenticity: Double check authenticity and ask for testimonies before going for a consultation.

Don't fall for personal acounts:u00a0Don't go by a therapist's tall claims of having overcome a stammering problem himself/ herself. Every case requires different treatment and yours might be very different from his/ hers.



Comfort comes first
: In the case of children, ensure a child's comfort with the therapist. Female therapists can sometimes handle children better.



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