A baby is born, at first he just sleeps and eats, then smiles and walks. First smile, first steps, first words. And suddenly, at the age of about 2.5 years, against the background of complete well-being, parents notice that the child repeats the end of the word several times. What to do? Should I immediately sound the alarm? Who to contact for help?
Immaturity of the central nervous system
The human brain is a very complex and multi-level structure. All babies are born with an immature nervous system, the processes of inhibition lag far behind the processes of excitation, and the central nervous system finally ripens only by 5-6 years.
Have you ever noticed that an overexcited baby of absolutely any age is very difficult to put to bed?
Breasts rub their eyes, yawn, cry, seem to even fall asleep and start to cry again. Older children scream and jump on the bed, can cry, throw tantrums, call their parents several times with minor requests, suddenly get scared and scream, but cannot fall asleep. The reason here is the same as that of logoneurosis. This immaturity of the central nervous system.
Logoneurosis trigger mechanism
Logoneurosis is a stutter familiar to all of us. In world practice, not a single theory of the stuttering mechanism has yet been proven. Most scientists agree that the overexcitation of Brock's center in the brain is to blame.
The period of active development of speech is a time of enormous load on the brain and central nervous system. Since the central nervous system in children is already in an insufficiently stable state, the additional load can lead to systemic failures, one of which is logoneurosis.
Overexcitation from the center of Brock extends to the parts of the cerebral cortex responsible for movement, this, in turn, causes a spasm of the facial muscles, and the child stutters.
As soon as the overexcitation subsides, the cortex becomes stable and speech normalizes. Logoneurosis is of various types - one child repeats the end of a word several times, another stutters in consonants, a third cannot start a phrase.
Toddlers at risk
Stuttering usually develops in preschool children. Most patients with speech therapists, psychologists and neurologists with a similar diagnosis are children 3-4 years old. It is at this age that most parents notice that the child repeats the end of the word several times. Sometimes the baby does not stutter at the ending, but repeats the first or one of the middle syllables.
It should be noted that the occurrence of stuttering in adolescence and adulthood is practically not found. People who received this disorder, only 3% of the total number of cases. Of these, the absolute majority received logoneurosis due to the most severe psychological trauma.
Logoneurosis is quite well amenable to correction, therefore, at the first signs of the disease, the child should be shown to the pediatrician. He, in turn, will appoint a diagnosis with specialized specialists - a neurologist, psychologist and speech therapist, to determine the nature of the disorder and further treatment tactics.
Classification of logoneurosis
The World Health Organization has developed and adopted the 10th International Classification of Diseases - this is a generally accepted typology of medical diagnoses (hereinafter - ICD-10). According to ICD-10, logoneurosis refers to emotional behavior disorders that begin in childhood and adolescence, and has the code F98.5.
According to the clinical sign, logoneurosis is divided into two large groups - neurotic and neurosis-like. It is impossible to determine the type of disease yourself.
Neurotic logoneurosis
This type of disorder results from a stressful situation that the child cannot cope with. The compensatory possibilities of the child's psyche are enormous, but endless. Finding out which particular situation will unsettle your child is almost impossible. Some children with pleasure go to the rooms of fear, pass their parents' remarks past their ears and boldly step into the treatment room. Others do not sleep at night when they see Babu Yaga in the book, fight hysterically at the dentist's door and close themselves in response to a short remark by the parent.
We cannot isolate a child from external stress - aggressive classmates, a harsh aunt doctor or a zombie toy looking from a store window on Halloween Eve. But we can create a benevolent and open atmosphere at home. The baby should have a safe place where he can reprimand and cry his sorrows and troubles. Do not scold your children for the slightest pranks and oversights - it is better to listen to the version of the offender and discuss what the child did wrong and how to avoid this in the future.
Another factor provoking the appearance of neurotic stuttering is the early study of foreign languages. It is interesting that children who initially grow up in a bilingual environment practically do not encounter this type of disorder. But for those who, at the age of active speech formation, are sharply faced with the need to learn a second language, repeated repetitions of word endings are often observed. And the stress factor in this case plays an important role.
Neurosis-like stutter
Unlike the first type of disorder, which occurs against the background of psychological trauma or stress and does not affect the brain structures themselves, neurosis-like stuttering is only a symptom, while the source of the problem is in the damaged area of the cortex.
The reason for a neurosis-like stutter is usually due to a difficult pregnancy and birth injury. During intrauterine hypoxia, the part of the brain responsible for speech is very often damaged.
The problem becomes noticeable by the age of three when the child begins to speak in sentences. Periods of stuttering are replaced by times of pure speech. The disease proceeds in waves, and the phases without stuttering become shorter and shorter and in the end completely disappear.
Diagnostics
So, the parents noticed that the child repeats the end of the word several times. Which doctor should I go to? If the problem so far is only in the endings, and the baby has not reached the age of two years, perhaps he does not suffer from logoneurosis, but only works out the pronunciation of individual sounds and words. The problem of pathological stuttering can easily be noticed by a mother or any other adult caring for a child. When stuttering, you may notice a spasm of the facial muscles that prevent the child from completing a word or phrase.
If you have any speech problems, the child should definitely show the specialist - the sooner treatment is started, the more likely it is that he will completely get rid of the problem.
Diagnostics will require examination by a number of specialists - a pediatrician, neurologist, psychologist and speech therapist. You may have to perform an EEG if the disease is acute and there is a suspicion of a neurosis-like stutter.
Therapy
Logoneurosis requires laborious, long-term treatment by a number of specialists (taking sedatives, almost daily sessions with a speech therapist, therapy with a child psychologist or neuropsychiatrist).
Today, there are many different methods of treating logoneurosis in children, each of which individually or in combination with other types of therapy gives a stable and visible result.
After all, the fact that a child repeats the end of a word several times is just the tip of the iceberg. The root cause lies much deeper - in the traumatic memory, constantly suppressed by heavy emotions or organic damage to the brain. Both the first and second, and especially the third, require the work and supervision of a specialized specialist.
How to alleviate the condition of the child?
Many parents complain that the treatment is carried out in full, but there is no relief. The child both stutters and stutters. Parents lose patience, get angry, suspect the baby of deceit. The child, in turn, is nervous, the logoneurosis is aggravated, and instead of effective therapy, walking in a vicious circle is obtained.
Parents of a baby with logoneurosis should remember that even the most modern treatment methods and drugs will not help if the traumatic situation remains at home. Therefore, experts recommend organizing a security regime, which includes several events:
- Confidential and calm atmosphere. The more confident the baby feels, the cleaner his speech.
- Clear daily routine. Timely bedding will help to avoid overwork and relieve stress on the central nervous system.
- Restriction or complete prohibition on the use of gadgets and viewing media programs. In a child with logoneurosis, CNS excitation already prevails over inhibition; you cannot overload the brain and nervous system with additional stimuli.
- Emphasis on the development of fine motor skills and playing alone.
The vast majority of children do not stutter when they play with themselves, this strengthens their self-confidence and removes possible nervousness when communicating with peers. Fine motor skills are inextricably linked with speech development. Both points are very important in the treatment of logoneurosis.
In the article, we found out in detail what logoneurosis in children is. This is a stutter of one or another nature of development, which must be treated strictly under the supervision of a specialist. With the timely start of treatment, the prognosis is favorable.