Will you really develop stuttering if you imitate stuttering when speaking?

Audit expert: Wang Xuejiang

Professor of Pathophysiology, Capital Medical University

Doctoral Supervisor, did you know that today is International Stuttering Day?

Stuttering is considered by the medical community to be one of the strangest and most complicated diseases in the world! Stuttering does not directly harm health, but the communication barriers and inferiority complex caused by stuttering will have a great negative impact on people's work and life.

In 1997, in order to raise awareness of stuttering around the world, the International Stuttering Association designated October 22 as "International Stuttering Day" and decided to hold a World Conference on Stuttering every three years.

Have you ever come into contact with someone who stutters? How much do you know about stuttering?

Stuttering is commonly known as "stuttering" and is a disorder of speech fluency. The World Health Organization defines stuttering as a disorder of speech rhythm, that is, the stutterer cannot express what he wants to express clearly because of involuntary sound repetition, extension or interruption. In other words, when speaking, the stutterer knows exactly what he wants to express, but cannot express the complete meaning fluently.

Why do we stutter?

1. Genetic factors

Some scholars have proposed that certain genes are related to stuttering. However, the hypothesis that genes cause stuttering still needs further verification. Stuttering is a familial disease in some families, but it has not yet been determined whether this type of familial disease is caused by genetic factors or social factors.

2. Poor development of the language nerve center or neurophysiological abnormalities

That is, there is a disorder in the nervous system that is closely related to pronunciation, language comprehension and even reading and writing.

Studies have shown that persistent stuttering since childhood may be due to an abnormal left brain, which causes a disconnect between the cerebral cortex and the areas related to speech ability. Experts point out that because the left brain fails to fully grasp the timing of the language area, it overcompensates for this deficiency, resulting in poor speech.

Among preschool children, the rate of boys stuttering is twice that of girls. The rate of girls recovering from stuttering is higher than that of boys. After the fifth grade (about 11 to 12 years old), the ratio of male to female stuttering increases to 4:1.

3. Psychological reasons

Such as mental tension, anxiety, stress. Mental factors are the main cause of stuttering.

4. Physical illness

Children are prone to stuttering after suffering from brain infections, head injuries, or infectious diseases such as whooping cough, measles, influenza, and scarlet fever.

5. Imitation and suggestion.

Will you become a stutterer if you imitate stuttering?

In fact, not all people who imitate stuttering will become stutterers, but many people do stutter through imitation and develop long-term stuttering problems.

Stuttering can actually be understood as a speech rhythm disorder, which manifests itself as repetition, pauses, jams, dragging of sounds, etc. However, simply imitating this speech rhythm disorder cannot be called true stuttering.

What makes imitation a difficult-to-correct way of speaking?

**Long-term imitation easily forms habits. **In fact, many habits in life are subconscious behaviors of people, including the entire pronunciation process of people. Once we consciously intervene in this matter, problems often arise. Just like when people swing their arms subconsciously when walking, once someone deliberately reminds them, the person walking may move his hands and feet at the same time or even not be able to walk. The same principle applies to stuttering.

When stuttering has become a fixed speech habit and you are at a loss, attention, fear, inferiority, and face-saving will accumulate little by little. At this time, a logical vicious circle will appear: the more afraid you are of stuttering when speaking, the more you will stutter.

Imitating stuttering behavior is actually a complex psychological process. Children aged 3-5 have unstable language habits, strong imitation ability, and are easily influenced by psychological suggestion, which are all causes of stuttering.

It is understood that more than half of children learn stuttering through imitation, and the onset of the disease mainly occurs before the age of 10.

At this time, the child's central nervous system is not fully developed. If there are people who stutter around them, the child's chance of stuttering will increase, and they are prone to "pseudo-stuttering/developmental stuttering". At this time, appropriate intervention can correct the child's stuttering. However, if parents misguide or overcorrect, it may become "true stuttering".

Can stuttering be cured?

There is currently no universal cure for stuttering. Clinical treatment is mainly speech therapy plus psychological counseling. For children who stutter for more than half a year, professional speech therapy and early intervention are recommended. The focus of treatment is to improve speech fluency.

In addition to focusing on speech fluency, older children, adolescents, and adults who stutter should also pay attention to their overall speech experience to minimize the impact of stuttering on their life, study, and work.

When facing people who stutter, we should show more understanding, more care and more patience, and allow them to integrate into mainstream society, so as to help them recover better!

References

Baidu Encyclopedia - Stuttering

Popular Science China "This disease makes many people embarrassed and difficult to control! Today, listen to him slowly talk about it..."

Medical Pediatric Channel "What to do if your child stutters? Doctors give 6 suggestions"