Exercises for the development of correct speech breathing. Stuttering exercises in children: games and articulation gymnastics

Stuttering in children, as in adults in Lately is of particular concern. According to statistics, today the number of people with stuttering problems is growing rapidly, and this is happening in the most developed countries. How to get rid of stuttering? This is a question every stutterer has asked himself at least once in his life. And we will tell you about modern and time-tested methods of getting rid of this problem.

Doctors define stuttering as a violation of the rhythm, tempo and fluency of oral speech, which is caused by the convulsive state of the muscles serving the speech apparatus. The onset of such a speech disorder usually falls on the period of the formation of speech function - childhood. Stuttering in children preschool age, is considered an independent speech pathology, in contrast to symptomatic or “secondary” stuttering resulting from brain pathology or neuropsychiatric disorders.

According to statistics, stuttering in children is observed in 2% of cases and 1.5% in adults. Moreover, among them, boys suffer from stuttering three times more often than girls, about the same percentage among adults - among men, this problem is several times more common than among women. With age, many get rid of stuttering, but many people are left alone with this problem. The rapid spread of this disease has recently been associated with an avalanche. electronic means media, all kinds of video games and other innovations that adversely affect the child's fragile nervous system. However, outstanding specialists - speech therapists, neuropathologists, psychologists, etc. - are still arguing about the causes and mechanisms of development. One thing is clear for sure - stuttering must be treated and no one except the patient himself will do it better. Therefore, a lot of scientific works and methods of how to get rid of stuttering have been developed. At your choice, we provide the most effective of those that can help you or your child.

Treatment of stuttering: the traditional method

This technique is based on the use breathing exercises, breathing exercises. Surely you have noticed that while singing people do not experience problems with speech, those who practice vocals have a natural and free voice.

The most common is breathing program developed by specialist Strelnikova. These exercises are very similar to morning exercises and are considered the most effective in the fight against stuttering, regardless of the age of the sufferer. They have a beneficial effect on all respiratory system, teach to breathe deeply, on the entire chest. Breathing exercises train the human diaphragm, forcing it to take Active participation in voice formation, due to which the vocal cords become as mobile as possible. The ligaments close tightly during a conversation, making speech smooth and rhythmic.

Exercise number 1: "Pump"

  • 1. To begin with, stand up straight, to your full height.
  • 2. Lean forward slightly, rounding your back and lowering your head and arms. It is very important that the neck is as relaxed as possible during this exercise.
  • 3. Now make a strong bend to the floor, as if you are inflating a tire, while inhaling quickly and noisily on a full chest through your nose.
  • 4. As you straighten up, exhale freely as you feel comfortable. However, do not straighten your back completely, return to position #2.
  • 5. Now bend over again, inhaling quickly and noisily. Etc. This is a breathing exercise, and therefore you do not need to strain any muscles, do it easily, without loading the lower back. Repeat the exercise 8 times.
  • 6. Rest for a few seconds, restoring your usual breathing, and repeat 8 times again.

Ideally, this exercise should be done for 8 breaths in 12 sets. However, do not rush to fulfill the norm on the very first day, such a load will dramatically affect your well-being. Therefore, in the first few days, do 6-8 approaches, gradually increasing their number up to 12 times.

Exercise number 2: "Turns"

  • 1. Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart and your hands on your waist. Take a comfortable position.
  • 2. Now turn your head to the left, and inhale quickly and noisily.
  • 3. You need to exhale as you turn your head to the other side. Exhale without stopping in the middle.
  • 4. Turning your head to the right, take another breath.
  • 5. Repeat the exercise in reverse order and so on for 8 breaths. This will be enough to get you started. Gradually, it will be necessary to increase, bringing the repetition of the exercise to 32 breaths, that is, three sets of 8 times with breaks of a few seconds.

Breathing exercises should be done twice a day, daily before breakfast and after dinner. After 2-3 months you will notice the first results, and over time, your breathing will be completely free and your voice will become natural. It should be noted that any exercises that train the diaphragm for stuttering people are very useful.

Treatment of stuttering: medical method

Talking about how to get rid of stuttering, one cannot but talk about medication methods. However, their use is acceptable only in especially severe cases, when stuttering not only creates communication discomfort, but very strongly, with a neglected or highly developed form of speech and even mental impairment. In other cases, drug treatment is undesirable, it has too many serious side effects and, as a rule, a very short-term effect.

The essence of the method is to take anticonvulsants and tranquilizers. The most commonly prescribed drug is "Fenibut". Such drugs affect the functionality of the whole organism, inhibit the psyche, disrupt concentration, metabolic processes, people taking tranquilizers and anticonvulsant drugs very quickly gain excess weight. Quite often, patients experience drowsiness, headaches, nausea, irritability, allergic reactions, and others. side effects, multiplying at long-term use drugs.

These medicines should not be taken by drivers of vehicles, people who work in complex industries or in other professions associated with the need for increased concentration. In addition, they should not be consumed for a long time, however, the therapeutic effect, as a rule, remains only during the reception, after the drug is discontinued, stuttering returns.

If, however, the need for excipients exists, it is better to take soothing infusions and decoctions of herbs. For example, a decoction of motherwort. Motherwort helps with stuttering, thanks to its ability to calm the nervous system. But it is definitely not worth getting involved in such means.

Treatment of stuttering: an unconventional method

The connection between points on the human body and internal organs is known to all. Alternative medicine has successfully used acupressure in the fight against stuttering. This is a rather lengthy treatment, but despite the complexity and duration of the process, it is very effective. To completely get rid of stuttering, you will need several courses, each of which contains 15 daily procedures. Between the first and second courses, it is necessary to take a two-week break, between the second course and the third, the interval should be about six months. Then you can continue from the beginning, if the stammering resumed before the onset of the next course of treatment, it is allowed to start earlier. Classes should not be abandoned, they must be carried out regularly, because acupressure therapeutic massage restores disturbed nervous regulation of speech - a sure way to get rid of stuttering forever.

Therapeutic points are located throughout the body, but to a greater extent on the face and back, so it is not possible to perform massage on your own. You will need an assistant or an acupressure specialist. The full course contains 17 points, but you need to start gradually, involving more and more responsible areas. Use the diagram to find them. In the first two days, only the first and second points will be useful to you. Then you will need to add two new ones daily until you have involved all 17. We remind you that the total duration of one course is 15 days.

Massotherapy:

  • 1. Find the desired point and press on it with your fingertip. A sure sign that you did it right will be a painful sensation in the person being massaged. However, directly during the massage, such sensations should not be.
  • 2. Massage the point in a circular motion, with the pad of your index or thumb 3-5 minutes. Gradually increase the pressure on the point, and then, on the contrary, weaken it. It is important that during the massage the person is as relaxed as possible.

You can get positive results after the first course. It depends on the age and form of stuttering. However, stop and stop treatment should not be. Otherwise, after a certain period of time, stuttering may return.

Treatment for stuttering: scientific gadgets

To date, the problems of speech defects are successfully solved with the help of specially designed computer programs, such as "Speech corrector" or "Demosthenes 07". Different programs solve different problems that prevent a person from speaking smoothly and continuously. Their huge plus is that communication with a computer removes the feeling of awkwardness, embarrassment inherent in communicating with a living person. These factors allow the patient to relax, feel confident and develop qualities in himself, which in most cases are the main brake on speech.

The impact of some programs is aimed at synchronizing the speech and auditory centers of the human brain. The stutterer pronounces certain phrases into the microphone, and the program automatically delays the speech for a fraction of a second. Training consists in an attempt by a person to adapt to his own voice modeled by the program. Gradually, speech levels off, each time becoming the most smooth and continuous. This happens due to the development of the habit of speaking calmly, the awareness and confidence that you can express yourself without stuttering. According to the developers, such a program can reduce the problem of stuttering by 75-80%, or even completely eradicate it, subject to regular classes.

There are other programs that help develop communication skills in a variety of situations. The computer provokes a person, creates situations that one has to face in real life when communicating: discontent, criticism, anger, and so on. Zaika needs to adequately respond to the “challenge” thrown into the microphone. The program, in turn, will evaluate this answer. If you have not coped with the task, try again until you succeed, and the program will prompt errors and points that need improvement.

Treatment of stuttering: author's methods

There are a lot of author's methods for treating stuttering, but most of them are based on traditional, already known, but somewhat modified programs. Effective methods are usually created by people who at one time managed to get rid of their own speech defect on their own. They worked on their programs for years, improving the exercises, honing the techniques that helped them directly.

Stuttering exercises effectively solve the problem

Causes of stuttering

The following reasons provoke speech difficulties:

  • dysfunction of the nervous system due to improper delivery and other injuries;
  • the consequence of retraining a left-handed child into a right-handed one;
  • the leading eye still remains the left;
  • inconsistency causes stuttering;
  • stress. At the same time, stuttering intensifies in moments of unrest, when speaking in public.

Gymnastics coordinates oral and nasal breathing. Inhalation is done sharply and quickly, accompanied by a rhythmic movement, and exhalation - silently and slowly. The account must be kept mentally.

There is a set of exercises for stuttering:

  1. "Palms". Stand straight, bend your elbows, palms facing forward. On a short breath, we try to grab the air with our palms. Then we exhale calmly. One exercise includes 4 breaths. You need to repeat 2 times. Between sets, wait a pause of 2 seconds, lowering your arms.
  2. "Eaulettes". Standing, we clench our fists and press them to the waist. On inspiration, we direct our fists down, straining our shoulders. The exercise includes 8 breaths. It is necessary to perform 12 times.
  3. "Cat". Steady legs apart, squat while inhaling. Turn the body to the right. On a slow exhale - straighten up. Repeat to the left. Only 8 exercises, perform 12 times.
  4. "Embrace". Standing, we bend our arms at the elbow joints. Elbows point to the floor. Inhale - hug yourself by the shoulders, then exhale slowly. Take 8 breaths 12 times.
  5. "Pendulum". Spread your legs slightly wider than your shoulders. While inhaling, we bend forward and stretch our hands to the floor. Then repeat the exercise, leaning back. Exhalation is slow. The exercise is performed standing or sitting.

It is a mistake to assume, focusing on the names, that these are stuttering exercises for children. In childhood, getting rid of the disease is easier. But after regular training, after two months, even an adult will notice changes in his pronunciation.

In addition, there are speech exercises, following which you need to pronounce difficult sounds in a singsong voice or with a certain rhythm.

Breathing exercises from stuttering contribute to the massage of the diaphragm, relieve muscle clamps due to the air freely passing through the ligaments and a deep breath. The specialist will teach you how to correctly combine speech and breathing exercises. Following the recommendations, you can get rid of stuttering and enjoy communication.

According to ICD-10, stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by frequent repetition or prolongation of sounds or syllables or words; or frequent stops or hesitation in speech, breaking its rhythmic flow.

Exercise 1. The speech apparatus is set to pronounce the sound [A] (the distance between the teeth is equal to two fingers, the tongue lies flat, the tip is at the lower front incisors), but the lips, unlike the position with the sound [A], are closed; the larynx should be lowered, the pharynx open, the small uvula and the palatine curtain raised.

You can check the lowered state of the pharynx as follows: put your finger on the cartilage of the larynx (Adam's apple) and take a deep breath through your nose. If the finger feels the downward movement of the cartilage, this means that the larynx has lowered and taken the position necessary for the free flow of sound, while the pharynx has opened, as it usually opens when yawning: the palatine curtain and a small tongue have risen up.

Stand up straight, check for muscle tension in the neck, head, arms, whole body; set the larynx and speech apparatus in the main position for the free flow of sound. Inhale through the nose and, maintaining the main position, send the exhaled stream on the sound [M] so as to feel the sound in the upper front teeth. The sounding jet of air, as it were, comes from the diaphragm and “hits” the upper front teeth. The sound should be light and not very long. By placing a hand on the lips and upper jaw, you can feel some trembling-vibration. This means that the sound goes correctly, without obstacles, that it hits the mask, that is, the bones of the face, and is reflected in it.

Exercise 2. Bring the sound [M] into the mask, which, as it were, breaks closed lips with a vowel sound [A]. The lower jaw naturally drops. The sound should be quite long; make sure that when the lips break, there is no overtone of nasality, which is caused by the fact that the palatine curtain does not rise and does not close the passage of sound into the nasal cavity. The combination of sounds [MA] is taken at different heights.

Exercise 3 In one breath, bring out a combination of the sound [M] with three vowels - [A], [O], [U] and [I], [E], [S]. Try to pronounce all sounds at the same height and direct them to the mask. Monitor the absence of tension, support and accurate articulation of all sounds.

The length of sounds characterizes a certain melody, which is usually called "singing intonation", since this sound approaches a drawn-out singing. In contrast to the “singing intonation”, voice training develops such a sound, which is called “speech intonation”. "Speech intonation" is distinguished by the absence of extended sounding of vowels and approaches a colloquial melody.

Exercise 4 The task of the exercise is to achieve the correct sending of sound into the mask in speech and singsong intonations. At the same height, you need to try to pronounce the sound combination [M] with any three (more correct) vowels, then a new breath - and a new combination. Exercise sequence:

a) inhale through the nose

b) on one breath - MA, MO, MU or NA,

c) inhale through the nose;

d) on one exhalation - MI, ME, WE or NI. During the exercise, you must ensure that you do not force the sound, send it to the mask, keep the support.

Do the exercise at different heights.

Exercise 5 Pronounce the following consonants on one exhalation: ZHZHZHZHZHZHZH - 3333333333 - NNN These sounds in their timbre color tend to different resonators: Zh - closer to the chest sound, 3 - to the middle or “mixed”, middle resonator, Hb - to the upper (head, front). Pronouncing all the consonants in a row, try to check the vibration of the sound in all resonator cavities by putting your hand to the chest, to the facial bones (otherwise the mask). Try to translate the sound of all consonants into different resonators.

Exercise 6 On the sound [U], play the whistle of three ships: large, medium and small. The sequence of beeps is irrelevant. You should hear three different pitches of your voice. Check resonators. Pull your lips well forward when the sound [Y] is formed. The three pitches heard and correctly reproduced will to some extent determine the range of your speech voice.

Exercise 7 Take an imaginary ball, determine for yourself what size it is and start “playing” by hitting it on the floor. At the same time, count to ten, hitting the ball for each count so that it “bounces” off the floor. Then, also counting to ten, toss the ball up for each count, then again hit the ball on the floor and count to ten. Count on one breath each time. Repeat this game several times. You will hear that as the flight of the ball changes, the pitch of your voice will also change: the ball below - the sound of the voice is lower, the ball is above - the sound of the voice is higher. Make sure that the sound is not tense, do not pull the neck up strongly when the ball flies up.

Exercise 8 The dog (let's call it Bobik) ran away, it must be returned home. We will call three times: once from a distance, then from a closer one, and finally, the dog will be near you. Repeat the dog's name several times at a fast pace, except for the last one (the dog is near you). The sequence of the exercise: say the word "Bobik" in one breath ten times (the dog is far away) - stop - say the word "Bobik" ten times (the dog came closer) - stop - repeat the nickname several times, but more slowly (the dog came up to you). The exercise should change the pitch.

Exercise 9. The principle and task are the same as in the previous exercise, but now the dog runs to the call without stopping, so repeat its nickname from high to low notes through medium ones without stopping in one breath. Say the nickname as many times as your breath lasts.

Exercise 10 Remembering the difference in the pitches of your voice that appeared in the previous exercises, count to ten in one breath at three different pitches; after each count to ten, you need to stop to take a breath and hear the next pitch.

Exercise 11 Say the phrase "I order you" with an increase in lines, starting from a comfortable lower height. In total, go through five or six steps without going into a scream. Pronounce this phrase, justifying the situation (for example, the fact that the order is not being carried out can be an excuse).

Exercise 12 The exercise involves two people. The first has the phrase “I will punish!”, the second has “No!”. The first pronounces his phrase in an increase in lines, the second goes down. The first orders, the second answers. It is necessary to justify the dialogue by the proposed circumstances.

Babies start making some distinct sounds as early as 6 months old. Gradually, the vocabulary increases and the child speaks in syllables, and then in words. However, sometimes parents notice problems with speech, this is especially noticeable at an older age. Stuttering brings the most discomfort to children and adults. At the same time, complexes appear, which can significantly affect attitudes in society. It is important to notice the problem in time and use stuttering exercises daily.

Causes and types of stuttering

Speech problems in children and adults become a serious barrier to communication. This is especially difficult for children at school, when you can often hear ridicule from peers. Also, this difficulty prevents an adult from communicating, defending his point of view, and actively getting involved in a conversation. There are complexes that are incredibly difficult to eliminate.

Causes of stuttering can be:

  • Transferred stress.
  • Poor social conditions for the child.
  • Frequent beatings and insults endured by children.
  • Hereditary speech diseases: the presence of stuttering relatives, underdevelopment of the speech apparatus (malocclusion of teeth, cleft lip, cleft palate).
  • The desire of parents to retrain a left-handed child to write with his right hand.
  • Large workload at school, attending several extracurricular activities during the week.
  • Harsh conditions of education at home.
  • Birth trauma.
  • Lack of communication in the family, when parents do not pay enough attention to their offspring - they read little, do not speak different topics, do not play.
  • Lability of the nervous system, when a person's emotions can be influenced verbally. In this case, the nervous system reacts by inhibiting speech activity, excitement comes, and the words sound intermittent, indistinct.

It is quite rare for adults to develop stuttering. The nervous system at this age is well developed and rarely undergoes changes. However, in the mature period of life, stuttering can be due to such reasons:

  • After suffering the death of a loved one.
  • After being in the epicenter of hostilities.
  • After suffering a severe brain injury.
  • Following a strong fright, such as an attempted robbery or harassment.

Important! Any stressful situation should not remain “inside” a person. You always need to talk to your loved ones, then the effect on the nervous system will decrease dramatically

At 3-4 years of age, it is difficult to understand whether the child will continue to stutter or if this is an age-related problem. Parents should carefully consider this situation and contact a speech therapist in time. The doctor can establish one of the following types of stuttering:

  • Reactive - is found after suffering nervous and mental ailments.
  • Evolutionary - appears in children during the development period of 3-5 years.
  • Symptomatic - occurs after trauma, organic brain damage, neuroinfections.

Each type of stuttering needs to be treated in a variety of ways. The best results appear after systematic daily training.

Speech therapy exercises

Treatment of a stuttering person presents some difficulties for the doctor. A specialist who eliminates such a problem is called a speech therapist. Many techniques have been developed on how to quickly and permanently save a person from speech problems. One such method is speech therapy. Some of them are done like this:

  • Children need to be presented in a playful way. To begin with, you should ask the child to inflate a balloon, a rubber ball, a life buoy. You can also try making a paper boat, launch it into the water and blow it to make it float.
  • Language exercises are quite fun for kids. You should be asked to puff out your cheeks and turn the tongue in your mouth so that the tongue “walks” over the teeth. Rhythmically stick out the tongue out and quickly hide it back in the mouth. Try to lay the tongue under the upper and lower lip. You can also twist the tongue into a "tube". So repeat up to 10-15 times.
  • We ask the child to puff out his cheeks and with a sharp, not strong blow with his fist on the cheek, knock the air out of his mouth.
  • Imitation of the "speech" of fish. The child should connect the lips together, and then sharply tear them apart, making sounds.

You can also add the following exercises to these exercises:

  • Playing in the orchestra and conductor. The doctor waves his wand and for every movement of the doctor, an adult or a child shouts out any word. This is repeated for 2-3 minutes in a playful way.
  • Scene "fun chicks". Exercise is more suitable for children. You need to go in a circle and shout: “Top-clap-clap! Up-tap-tap! Tip-tap-rop-rap-chick-chick!"
  • The doctor should liberate the adult and give him the opportunity to speak out. Need to come up with interesting topic and simply get the patient to talk and talk.
  • Play with children and adults in the capitals of the world. The doctor must name the country, and the patient must shout out the correct answer as soon as possible.
  • Invite the child and adult to read a poem or a fairy tale. In this case, you need to turn on rhythmic, but not fast music and do all this to a given melody.
  • It is also necessary to read tongue twisters of varying complexity.
  • You should read books aloud as much as possible, preferably in front of an audience. You can also do everything in the family circle, with friends.

It is important for the patient to relax, not to feel infringed in front of the doctor. A liberated person pronounces syllables and words better, stops worrying, does not swallow letters and speaks clearly.

Breathing exercises

In children with stuttering, one should not only focus on speech, but be sure to train breathing. This approach increases the chances of resuming correct speech in a shorter time. Breathing exercises can be carried out both at home and in special classes. Adults and children perform the following exercises:

  • Adults are offered to lie on their back and put an object weighing 2-3 kg on their stomach. You need to take rhythmic breaths in and out with your stomach, lifting the load up and down. For children, you can put a soft toy instead of gravity. Exercise to perform 1-2 minutes 5 times a day.
  • Place a long, hollow tube in a bottle of water and let the patient blow as hard as they can. This should continue for 1-2 minutes.
  • Both children and adults can inflate balloons.
  • Every 1-2 hours you need to take breaks for a breathing workout. You need to stand on your feet and inhale deeply through your nose, slowly raising your hands up. Then slowly lower your arms and exhale through your mouth. This is done 10-15 times per session.

Breathing exercises are useful in that the muscle groups of the chest, larynx, and pharynx are trained in this way. Such exercises contribute to the development of smooth speech, proper breathing when pronouncing sounds and words.

Muscular gymnastics

The nervous system, as well as the muscles of the body, plays a significant role in the formation of the voice. The structures of the vocal apparatus work together with the respiratory muscles, as a result of which a person can produce almost any sounds. Correction of stuttering in adults and children can be carried out in many ways. Muscular gymnastics is one of the important ones. The main organ responsible for proper breathing is the diaphragm. It is the following exercises that allow you to achieve the desired result:

  • Body position - standing. Take a deep breath, that there is strength, increasing the volume of the chest. Then exhale quickly and rhythmically with the sound “hoooo”. So repeat 15 times in one cycle. In total, you need to do 10-15 such exercises per day.
  • The position of the body is the same. Rhythmic and frequent movements of the anterior abdominal wall should be made. In this case, the abdominal muscles increase pressure in the abdomen and affect the diaphragm. These sets of exercises increase the force of contractions of the diaphragm during respiratory movements.
  • Holding your breath for 30-40 seconds also allows you to increase muscle strength and promotes better ventilation of the lungs.
  • Daily jogging for 15 minutes increases the excursion of the chest, increases the adaptive abilities of the body, and improves blood flow in the lungs.
  • Yoga perfectly helps to master your body, pacifies the nervous system, calms the breath and tones the muscles, the diaphragm. These classes are for adults only.

Physical exercise has a positive effect on the work of the lungs, vocal cords and the entire speech apparatus.

Voice gymnastics

You can learn how to speak confidently and without a hitch with the help of voice exercises. Play forms are suitable for children, acting lessons and singing are suitable for adults. Speech therapists offer the following exercises for stuttering:

  • Turn on the soundtrack or familiar music with words and start singing. This is the easiest way to learn how to pronounce sounds smoothly. It is desirable that the songs have more vowels, such as A, O, I, Z, Yu.
  • For children, a skit or a well-known fairy tale should be played so that the child takes part and talks a lot.
  • Choose any sonorous word, for example, "sun" and try to pronounce it affectionately, rudely, with anger, with kindness, changing intonation each time.
  • With a child, you can throw objects and make sure that the baby pronounces the given word for each throw.
  • It is also necessary to ask the patient at first slowly, and then quickly pronounce such syllables: “but-but”, “well-well”, “na-na”, “pa-pa”, “sho-sho”,
    “tsa-tsa”, etc. This should be done rhythmically, then accelerate and pronounce the sounds loudly and clearly.

Doctor's advice. The patient must remember that only his own efforts and patience will give a positive result and relieve stuttering.

Rhythmic gymnastics

The sense of rhythm plays a huge role for a person who wants to get rid of stuttering. The best way to manage speech is through music or rhythmic sounds. Such training pacifies the nervous system, the game form allows you to liberate a person and increase his self-esteem. Classes are held as follows:

  • Choose easy-to-read rhymes, texts. A person should read poems while tapping his hand on the table. Everything is done in time with reading.
  • In a similar way, you can ask the patient being read to pronounce the words to the beat of the selected music. Change the melody every time, regardless of anyone's preferences.

The presented methods of treating stuttering are quite simple and they can be practiced even at home. If parents notice problems with speech in a child, you need to seek help from a speech therapist. Only an experienced doctor will relieve such unpleasant problems.

Stuttering is one of the most complex speech disorders associated with a convulsive state of the articulatory apparatus. Most often appears in preschool age, but may appear later. By school age, a stutterer develops a fear of his own speech, a number of tricks and accompanying movements appear, which not only do not help, but also aggravate numerous hesitations, stops, repetitions of sounds, syllables and words.

Unfortunately, no matter how much suffering a speech deficiency brings, practice shows that stuttering people are often passive, they seek help already in a fairly adult state and look for such techniques and methods that would make their speech perfect without any of their own efforts. The elimination of stuttering is a long and complicated matter, requiring persistent and systematic work not only on one's speech, but also on oneself.

Since in most cases stuttering is preceded by neurotic disorders, it is believed that even after the complete elimination of the speech defect due to any stress, relapses are frequent. In addition, there is a point of view that adults are incurable. In any case, you need to make enough effort to learn to control your speech and improve it significantly.

The method of eliminating stuttering includes psychotherapy, silence and whispering speech, speech therapy classes with breathing, articulatory and voice exercises, hypnotherapy sessions, self-hypnosis techniques, etc.

This article will focus on training one of the most important conditions for proper smooth speech - breathing. When stuttering, it is almost always broken. The volume of exhaled air is so small that it is not enough to pronounce a phrase, and often a stutterer even speaks while inhaling or holding his breath, which is absolutely wrong. Therefore, mastering the correct speech breathing is for a stuttering person an important and necessary foundation for further speech correction.

Speech and life breathing: differences

It is necessary to understand the difference between speech and basic physiological breathing. The purpose of speech breathing is to participate in the creation of a voice on a smooth and even exhalation. The main function of vital breathing is to maintain human life by continuous gas exchange in the body (when inhaling, oxygen enters the body, while exhaling, carbon dioxide is released).

Unlike physiological speech breathing is arbitrary. The person himself controls the dose of air necessary for a particular phrase and compares the moments of inspiration with speech pauses.

During normal breathing, we breathe through the nose, inhalation and exhalation have the same duration, with speech breathing, breathing occurs simultaneously through the mouth and nose, while inhalation is several times shorter than exhalation. Vital breathing is clavicular, thoracic and abdominal. The most convenient for speech is diaphragmatic-costal (lower-diaphragmatic) breathing.

In people who do not suffer from m, correct speech breathing is developed automatically; when stuttering occurs, it is disturbed and must be developed consciously.

Treatment of stuttering: the development of speech breathing

With a speech type of breathing, the diaphragm (abdominal septum) quickly descends, increasing the volume of the lungs, and rises when exhaling. Lower diaphragmatic breathing training is best practiced half an hour before meals in the morning and in the evening before bed. Clothing should not restrict movement. After exercise, a short rest is necessary.

1. Exercise " Balloon»

Lying on your back, place one hand on your stomach and the other on your chest. Inhale calmly and gently. When inhaling, the abdomen should inflate like a balloon, while the arm rises. Then slowly exhale, gently pressing your hand on your stomach. The chest during inhalation and exhalation is in a calm state.

At first, to avoid dizziness from excess oxygen, the number of breaths should not exceed five. Then the number of breaths can be increased to fifteen.

Exercise "Balloon" must be fixed for two to three weeks. After this period, the hand may no longer provide mechanical assistance, but control proper breathing. Then this exercise is fixed already standing and sitting.

2. Storm in a teacup

When performing this exercise, the left hand also controls correct breathing. Inhalation is done through the nose and lips slightly parted in a smile. Exhalation is done through a cocktail tube, the end of which is lowered into a glass half-filled with water. It is necessary to ensure that the lips are motionless, and the cheeks are not inflated.

Similarly to the previous exercises, you can blow on a piece of cotton wool, a strip of paper, a spinner, a pen, release soap bubbles, etc.

Breathing gymnastics A.N. Strelnikova

Respiratory gymnastics by A. N. Strelnikova is often used in the correction of stuttering. A feature of this technique is the combination of a short and sharp breath with movements. Active movement of all parts of the body causes a strong need for oxygen. Inhalation is done instantly and emotionally, exhalation - spontaneously.

When working with stutterers, I often use the Pump and Hug Your Shoulders exercises. With their help, within two months, you can achieve deep and smooth breathing, and the vocal cords become more flexible and mobile.

1. "Pump"

Performed from a vertical pose, arms down. Inhalation is short, sharp and is carried out in parallel with the downward slope, while the back is round, the head is lowered.

After that, you should slightly rise and exhale the air through the nose or through the mouth. Normally, the exercise is 8 breaths 12 times with pauses of 3-5 seconds.

But before doing such a large number of breaths-movements, daily training is necessary for 2-3 weeks, starting with the number of movements that does not cause tension in the lumbar region, dizziness and bad health. In severe condition, the exercise can be performed from a sitting position.

Contraindications for this exercise are head and spine injuries , displacement of the intervertebral discs, the presence of vertebral hernias, increased arterial, intracranial and intraocular pressure, stones in the kidneys , liver and bladder, a high degree of myopia, chronic and, pregnancy, feeling unwell before or during exercise.

2. "Hug your shoulders"

It is also performed from a vertical position, while the arms are bent, raised at shoulder level with the hands facing each other. A short noisy breath is taken at the moment of bringing the hands towards each other, hugging oneself by the shoulders, while the elbows converge on the chest. It is necessary that the hands are parallel to each other, and not crosswise. At the moment of exhalation through the mouth or nose, the arms slightly diverge, forming a square in front of them.

The number of breaths-movements is 8 breaths 12 times with pauses between them, after 2-3 weeks of daily training, you can increase the number of breaths-movements up to 32 x 16 times and do them without stopping.

In case of heart failure and other serious illnesses, the exercise should not be performed. You can also train in a sitting position and even lying down.

Treatment of stuttering: a reminder to consolidate speech breathing

  1. Breathe in before speaking.
  2. You can only speak while exhaling.
  3. Inhalation is always short, and exhalation is smooth and long. Exhalation is necessary to "save".
  4. You need to breathe with the “belly”, while the chest is motionless, the shoulders are motionless and do not rise.
  5. On one exhalation, you need to pronounce no more than three or four words.
  6. Words in a sentence cannot be broken into syllables, they should be pronounced together. Breathing should be done in semantic pauses.
  7. During the speech, it is necessary to ensure that there is no tension in the muscles of the vocal apparatus, neck, face.

When correcting stuttering, you need to be patient. Speech improvement is slow and has a spasmodic character. Sometimes the correction of stuttering requires more effort and time than the patient expected, which leads to despair, he quits training and withdraws even more into himself. However, experience shows that correct and regular practice helps to cope with m, no matter how strong it may be.

Yulia STEPANOVA, speech therapist, psychologist

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