5 characteristics of stuttering that have nothing to do with stuttering

It is estimated that the stuttering interests about 1 million people in our country and who suffer from it 150,000 young people under 18 years old. Despite this, it is a phenomenon that is still little known and on which there is still a lot of confusion.

In fact, it is customary to think that stuttering manifests itself exclusively with the classic stuttering yet it’s not always like this: it’s in fact about a disorder that presents a high variability from individual to individual. This means that, as the experts point out Vivavoce, a medical center specializing in the treatment of disorders and difficulties related to the voice, language and communication – Different people can stutter in very different ways between them. But not only. Stuttering also features high intra-individual variabilityi.e. within the same person it can manifest itself, throughout life, in different ways, both at the level of features that Of frequency and severity.

In fact, what it is important to draw attention to is that stuttering, far from having to be considered only a linguistic disorder or an exclusively psycho-emotional difficulty, is a complex cognitive phenomenonwhich impacts on several spheres of the person, touching wait motor, verbal, emotional and behavioral.

On a verbal level, stuttering can manifest itself not only with the classic stammering, the prolongation of the sound, the block in the voice, which can be easily noticed, but also with theuse of synonyms, interleaving, turns of phrase to express an immediate concept, as well as “meditative pauses during which – specify the Vivavoce experts – stuttering takes time and pretends to think about what to say or not to remember at all, as if continually lost the train of thought or if he stumbles on a subject on which he is not prepared enough”.

And if verbal manifestations, however often “subtle”, we notice more or less easily, there is also a I wait that right no stuttering visible, i.e. the non-verbal manifestations and, in particular, the “non-actions”, the avoidance of doing something.

As the Vivavoce experts point out, stuttering can in fact pervade the life of those who stutter, influencing their choices, thoughts, emotions and (non) actions: “Who stutters often decides not to go to the bar to drink coffee because it would imply ordering it in front of the waiter – risking blocking or remaining silent – ​​or not reach out to a stranger because it would involve telling him your name – which perhaps begins with that tricky letter to pronounce; not to enroll in university because it would imply taking oral exams and discussing the degree thesis in public”.

For this, to overcome stuttering, it is often necessary an approach capable of intervening on various levels of this difficulty. “In particular – explains Dr. Valentina Letorio, psychologist of the Centro Vivavoce, for over 10 years an excellence in the treatment of stuttering – the rehabilitation method Muscarà Rehabilitation Method for Stuttering (MRM-S) adopted by Vivavoce is based on regain control of your voice with a multidisciplinary work on motor skills, sensory proprioception, behaviour, cognition and emotion. In fact, the patient first learns to know and control the motor patterns (respiratory, phonatory and articulatory) underlying the verbal production through the support of the Clinician and with the specific technology of Vivavoce, to then be guided to experiment this control in contexts of daily life and in stressful situations. Repeated experience of success in communication will ensure that progressively also the conditioning of stuttering and its impact on the quality of life is increasingly reducedthereby experiencing freedom and security in daily interactions”.

For clarity, here it is 5 characteristics of stuttering that are important to knowbeyond the more classic stereotypes associated with it.

As for the frequency, stuttering is not always systematic. It can only manifest itself in rare and specific situations (for example when there is greater communicative pressure and/or in performance contexts) and not occur at all in all the others.

The duration can also be variable. Stuttering is not always constant but can occur intermittently. It can remain totally “silent” for some periods (even very long) and then suddenly reappear sporadic or more continuous. This fluctuating trend may be related to the stress perceived in a given period or phase of the person’s life, the Vivavoce experts point out.

Stuttering is of variable intensity. For some people, or in particular situations, manifestations may not significantly impair fluency of speech (at least from the listener’s perspective) but still be clearly perceived by the stutterer.

Stuttering isn’t the only way stuttering manifests itself. Beyond repetitions, prolongations, interruptions, audible blocks and silent exist more subtle manifestations of stuttering such as the use of synonyms, turns of phrase or interlayers (“that is”, “um” “practically”), the use of short or fragmented sentences and the presence of alterations in the rhythm of speech. Also an intentional increase in articulation speed it can represent a strategy to overcome a blockage.

Finally, we must not forget, the experts still underline, that alongside these demonstrations there may also be non-verbal alterationswhich still result thinner and more impalpable because they are often confused with reserve, introversion or lack of participation in communication. It’s about silences, delegations, renunciations of communicating something out of fear of being judged because of one’s stuttering.

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