Stuttering: what can be done?
Stuttering is a speech disorder that affects people of all ages. It disrupts the flow and fluency of speech. The cause is thought to be genetic and to involve the brain: structures in the brain are found to differ both anatomically and in the way they work. Dopamine regulation is also affected.
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A few words about stuttering
Source: https://lecerveau.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_10/d_10_p/d_10_p_lan/d_10_p_lan.html
[...]Stuttering is not, strictly speaking, a language disorder. It is a disorder of the rate of speech when communicating, and it affects four times as many boys as girls. Stuttering appears between the ages of two and five in children who have inherited a more fragile speech system. Other people start stuttering suddenly, after a psychological shock such as a death in the family. In general, the sounds most affected by stuttering are “hard” sounds such as “k”, “g”, “p” and so on. Stuttering is called clonic when the repeated element is a syllable (“I want to le-le-le-le-le leave”) and tonic when it is only the first sound (“I want to l-l-l-l-l leave”).
Stuttering disappears when the person sings, recites a text or reads it aloud. In fact, it disappears in any situation that does not put them in spontaneous communication and does not require a major adjustment in breathing. Because stuttering is so closely tied to the “mechanics of speech”, people who stutter are sensitive to stress, tiredness, emotions and excitement. Finally, as some specialists say, to underline how poorly stuttering is still understood: “The only difference between a person who stutters and a person who doesn't is that the person who stutters stutters!” [...]
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Understanding how stuttering works
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4907571/
[...]There is no consensus on the pathophysiology of stuttering. Research into sensory, motor and cognitive causes has mostly produced contradictory results, or results that could not be reproduced. However, abnormalities in the auditory feedback system have regularly been observed in people who stutter.
Neuroimaging studies have revealed differences in the anatomy and functioning of the brain in people who stutter, compared with controls who speak fluently, particularly in the auditory and motor cortices and in the basal ganglia. These abnormalities may spread over time in people who do not recover from developmental stuttering. In adults who stutter, there is overactivity in the cortices of the right hemisphere and poor coordination between the areas of the cortex that plan and carry out speech. It remains to be seen whether these anatomical and functional differences cause stuttering, or are the adult brain's way of adapting to it.
Dopamine dysregulation may also play a part. Giving levodopa makes fluency problems worse, whereas giving dopamine antagonists improves fluency. A positron emission tomography study showed greater uptake of the fluorinated dopamine precursor 6-FDOPA in people who stutter compared with controls, which points to overactivity of the dopamine systems in the central nervous system. [...]
Discover our exclusive treatment
Our protocol was developed on the basis of research findings, such as those shown in bold above.
The aim is to act on the auditory feedback system, on the overactivity of the right hemisphere, on the coordination between the brain areas involved in speech, and on the overactivity of the dopamine systems.
To achieve this, we use a special rehabilitation device, the Giger MD, together with the Tomatis method.
The Giger MD device
You can think of the Giger MD as a super rehabilitation device that combines speech therapy, occupational therapy and psychomotor therapy. In other words, it works on language, coordination and sensory integration at the same time.
Over the course of the sessions, which last 20 minutes each, we work to improve the coordination between brain areas and the regulation of the dopamine systems in the central nervous system. We recommend one or two sessions a week.
- The principle is very simple: it is about coordinating the upper and lower body, as well as the eyes, the ears and the voice.
- Depending on your type of stutter, you will repeat words with “hard” sounds, in a clonic or tonic pattern.
- The session lasts 20 minutes, during which you pedal and do specific exercises on the screen and out loud.
- This teaches the brain to coordinate the brain areas involved in speech.
- We offer a pack of 9 sessions, so that you can make progress over 2 to 3 months.
- This treatment is provided by our partner physiotherapy centre, Activate, and is covered by basic health insurance in Switzerland (LaMAL).
The Tomatis method for stuttering
In the particular case of stuttering, the Tomatis method works on the audio-vocal loop, using a microphone and headphones.
The voice is filtered, switched and sent back to the ear through air and bone conduction. A slight delay between air and bone conduction helps the brain learn to coordinate the ear and the voice as well as possible.
The stimulation starts out equal in the right and left ears, then gradually gives more weight to the right ear. The left hemisphere is thus “over-stimulated”, while the right hemisphere is “under-stimulated”.
In this way, we act on:
- Auditory feedback
- Overactivity of the right cortex
- The coordination and planning of the brain areas involved in speech
As stuttering is a developmental disorder, early intervention is essential. The earlier it is treated, the better the chances of this particular disorder improving. So don't wait: click below to get in touch.
In their own words
“Kevin was very receptive, even though classical music wasn't really his favourite kind of music.”
“This is the result of your support and your method, which really took a weight off my mind and helped Hakim move forward and gain confidence in himself.”
“My dad and my friends tell me I've become more mature, that I express myself much better, that my questions are more thought through.”