What happens to children who stutter

Stuttering is a disruption of the normal speech rhythm, which is manifested by involuntary repetition of speech, prolongation or cessation of articulation. Stuttering accounts for 1-2% of school-age children, and is 2-4 times more common in boys than in girls. About 50% of children who stutter start to stutter before the age of 5. When children aged 1-3 are in an emotional or stressful situation, the function of the articulatory organs and vocabulary often cannot keep up with the speed of thinking, and it is more common to have transient stuttering, but as a specific symptom it is a continuous and fixed form. There are various causes of stuttering, the common ones are sudden mental stimulation, such as being frightened, generating fear, changing environment, severe punishment, or even strong voice, which can lead to stuttering. When children are learning to speak, parents are too demanding, do too much correction, or take to intimidating and forcing children to learn to speak, which makes children nervous and stuttering occurs. Children who mimic can also stutter by imitating the person who stutters. Physical illnesses, such as whooping cough, influenza, measles, and scarlet fever, can weaken brain function and cause excessive stress and stuttering due to mental stimulation. Stuttering can be manifested as repeating the first word or the first sentence, or interrupting in the middle of a word that is difficult to pronounce. In this case, it takes a lot of effort to speak. When stuttering children speak, they occasionally stomp their feet, shake their heads, pat their legs with their hands, squeeze their eyes, twist their mouths, shake their upper bodies or tremble their lips. Due to the effects of stuttering, children with stuttering tend to develop a lonely, withdrawn, shy or low self-esteem personality. In addition, some children are often excitable or irritable, with emotional instability and sleep disturbances. The most important thing for children who stutter is to eliminate their stressful environment and nervousness. It is important to build up their confidence, to practice actively, to develop the habit of not rushing and not panicking, and to be guided by teachers to correct pronunciation and train speech. It can be combined with small doses of bromelain or anti-anxiety drugs. Also acupuncture treatment has some effect.