by Dr. Sajiv Adlakha (renowned speech therapist)

Speech is learnt behaviour, says Dr. Sajiv Adlakha, and therefore, any such disorders can be modified by therapy. Dr. Adlakha runs speech and hearing clinics in the city.

THERE IS SOLUTION FOR THIS PROBLEM:

It is a problem which can be handled with proper therapy and co-operation from both the person who Stammers and his family. At the society the person has to undergo therapy which includes deep breathing Exercises and various exercises to strengthen the vocal cords through out the week. On Saturdays there is A group therapy session.

This type of collective therapy is most effective because the person feels that it is just not him but there are Many like him who stammer and are trying to overcome it. And the ones who have stopped stuttering play a Major motivating role in making these people believe that even they can be fluent, says Dr.Adlakha. But  The same method of treatment does not work for all.

For example, collective therapy works for some and individual care work wonders for others. Similarly, for Children play therapy is used to make them feel more comfortable and less inhibited. Dr. Adlakha recounts some of his cases who have completely been cured of their stammering habit. Some Of them hold high positions in both Government and corporate sectors. In fact, stammering gets aggravated when a person gets angry or emotionally agitated.

The disorder is more common among boys than among girls, says Dr. Adlakha, the ratio being almost 5:1. He points out it is also more common among the upper and upper middle classes, the reason being that among these classes there is greater pressure to put up a show, to pretend to be what you are not.

This duality of personality begins to show up in speech disorders. The first thing we have to do is to make the person comfortable with himself and help him in giving up his pretences. He admits that many among the poor probably do not know that such treatment is possible and do not seek therapy. He says that he encourages them to come to his clinic by charging less and compensating them for their expenses in the form of ” rewards for achievements”.  The members of Swar Sudhar Society pool in their contributions for their activities.

People stammer not because of the malfunctioning of the speech organs nor is it an ailment which can be corrected by medicines. Infact, Speech is a learnt behaviour and stammering can sometimes start as an innocuous prank like immitating someone who stammers a child , which then gradually develops into a  Habit. Another reason could be that a person who suffers from typhoid or meningitis may have his or her vocal Organs weakened because of the prolonged illness. Since the mental vocabulary keeps expanding ,the person tries to talk a normal pace but his speech organs do not match his speed of thoughts and hence the stammering. There could be other psychological reasons like lack of Attention, psycho fear, inferiority complex because of comparison with a brighter person etc., which leads to stammering In a person.

So WISH YOU ALL THE BEST !!!