Correction of speech defects

Adults begin to lisp, burr and stutter as a result of emotional and physical trauma. Children are much more likely to encounter such problems. If the child is four years old, then it is already necessary to work on the correctness of speech. It is important for parents to understand what actually causes speech disorders and how to work on correcting speech defects.

Causes

There are many reasons that cause speech defects. They can be conditionally divided into two types: congenital (due to heredity, body characteristics and difficult pregnancy of the mother) and those that arose after birth.

Speech defects can appear due to diseases of the lips and larynx, dysfunction of the muscles of the oral cavity. Excessively sparse teeth and abnormal jaw structure can also be the cause. Speech defects can be associated with damage to the cerebral cortex.

Children with speech anomalies have developmental peculiarities. In terms of physical development, such children have problems with the articulatory apparatus, breathing and voice production, motor skills and muscle activity. In addition, such children get tired faster, so they may lag behind their peers in terms of strength and agility. From a psychological point of view, children with speech disorders stand out among others for their unstable attention, weak memory and thinking, as well as delayed development of imagination.

Due to speech defects, your child is subject to stress and tension in building relationships with the outside world, so be lenient. A set of techniques aimed at eliminating physical and psychological deficiencies will help successfully influence the speech development of a child.

Types of defects

Depending on the manifestations, speech defects are divided into types: problems with the speed of reproduction (tachylalia - too fast, bradylalia - too slow), pathological changes in the speech apparatus (aphonia and dysphonia), stuttering, defects in the timbre of the voice and pronunciation of sounds, problems due to improper functioning of the speech apparatus and the central nervous system, less often - due to pathologies of the brain. Self-correction of speech defects is incredibly difficult to achieve, and in some cases - completely impossible. If you suffer yourself or observe them in your child, contact a speech therapist.

Stuttering

The fight against stuttering is perhaps the longest in the history of speech defects. What the would-be doctors of previous centuries did not do: they cut the tongue, cut out part of the tongue muscles, tried to invent a cure, and even, according to ancient Chinese alternative medicine, offered their cheek for a slap in cloudy weather. The real discovery was made by the Russian doctor Ivan Sikorsky only in the 90s of the nineteenth century. He explained stuttering as a special form of neurosis, and to correct the speech defect, they began to use sedatives, water procedures, singing, declamation and special exercises to correct speech.

The main cause of stuttering was recognized as spasms in the muscles of the speech apparatus. The speech anomaly originates in the nerve centers of the brain. Three brain centers are responsible for speech: Broca's center, the Associative center and Wernicke's center. Stuttering is associated with inconsistencies in the work of these three centers, for example, different speeds of their work. Now, for the normal functioning of the speech circle, sedatives and anticonvulsants, general strengthening procedures, hypnosis and speech exercises with speech rate, breathing regulation and others are used.

It is easy to provoke stuttering when a child is 2-5 years old, since at this time the connection between the speech centers is just forming. Severe frustration or fright can cause stuttering.

"Adult" problems

The list of speech deficiencies in adults is slightly different. Accordingly, the exercises for correcting speech will also be different.

If the reason for speech deficiencies is anxiety (a person is afraid to speak in front of a large audience or engage in conversation with strangers), try to calm down before the conversation. Prepare the text, repeat it out loud. When you feel the acceleration of the tempo of your speech, stop, take a deep breath. Do myogymnastics exercises.

If the main defect of your speech is nasality, then the cause may be a disease of the nasal cavity (polyps, adenoids, curvature of the nasal septum). After eliminating the cause, the nasality will go away. If the problem is different, contact a speech therapist, he will develop special exercises for you to correct your speech.

Problems with diction can be overcome by persistently practicing special exercises. Your speech will become clearer if you open your mouth wide when talking. Develop the mobility of your lips and tongue, monitor your breathing and the pace of your speech, and soon you will be able to significantly improve your pronunciation.

Exercises before a speech therapist

You should start working on correcting speech defects as soon as they appear. Here are a few simple exercises that will help make the speech organs strong and elastic. When working with children, it is better to present the lessons in a playful way, you can show pictures or use music. With the help of articulatory gymnastics, you will strengthen the speech muscles and prepare the basis for clear pronunciation. After such training, it will be easier for the child to work with a speech therapist.

You should practice for five minutes twice a day (morning and evening) in front of a mirror.

1. Exercise to activate the cheek muscles: pinch both cheeks 10 to 15 times, with your fingertips, if the cheeks are relaxed. If tense, do the same number of strokes.
2. Exercise for the lips: if the lips are in low tone, lightly press on the lips from the middle to the corners. If the tone is increased, do the same, only in the opposite direction (from the corners to the middle).

A series of exercises for the lips:

1. let the child repeat after you the “duck” and do a couple of pinches;
2. smile without opening your lips; this can be difficult;
3. now open your lips and smile so that all your teeth are visible;
4. smile, moving the tip of your tongue from the right corner of your mouth to the left (as if clockwise). The chin should remain in place;
5. with a motionless chin, try to smile, open your mouth, and touch your tongue alternately to the upper and lower teeth;
6. the next exercise is the “horse”: you need to click your tongue. This exercise can be used not only during training of the articulatory apparatus, but also as part of everyday games;
7. try to firmly press your tongue to the palate, then smile, open your mouth and stay in this position for a few seconds;
8. the last exercise is the most delicious: you need to grease the upper lip with honey (jam) and tell it to lick it not in a circle, but with one movement of a wide tongue.

Working with a speech therapist

Each child's speech develops according to its own unique pattern. The most typical problem that parents face is the sounds "s", "z", "sh", "zh". First, stop cooing at your child - speak correctly, clearly pronouncing words, because he learns to speak from you. Problems with pronunciation of sounds up to four years are quite normal, but after five years, if the problem does not go away on its own, make an appointment with a speech therapist, an experienced doctor will help improve speech. A speech therapist-defectologist will find out the reasons for incorrect pronunciation, and develop an individual training plan. If the problems are related to the pronunciation defect of one sound, only a few appointments will be required. If we are talking about problems with the child's development, classes will need to be attended for about six months.