STAMMERING – A PROBLEM

Stammering, I considered it a ‘trip over one's tongue in an attempt to make a speech’. This is always a result of the condition of that person’s brain connections (the nerves just like electrification) and at times from learning right from childhood. Again some come through gene. It is indeed a situation of an intense effort to voice out words properly is otherwise known as stammering. In an attempt to voice out to peoples’ understanding, more effects most time are put in thereby producing extra sounds or words. This extra effort is likened to the force of trumpeter blowing a trumpet, out of force the trumpet produces a sound that sometimes is harsh to ears.

The degree found in the stammerer’s effort varies a great deal according to individuals and situations. Sometimes it tends to be easy (fluent) and in a little while slows down tremendously to a situation that could cause impatience among listeners.

In this case, repetition of words is made rampantly and sometimes gets stuck (speechless) without any understandable sound thereby breaching a flowing communication. This situation makes the stammerer nervous and sometimes uncontrollably hits or holds another person while trying to alter an intended understandable word.

Because of this phenomenon, some persons remain mute, and sometimes avoids looking at the hearer eyeball-to-eyeball or jumps in between words and unknowing to hearer while trying to avoid the situation of stammering.

This phenomenon has changed names of persons to another called stammerer, meaning one who stammers, which is, of course, a hurtful situation.  

THE WAYS STAMMERING COMES

This phenomenon could be through various ways:

(1)                Through the influence of hurry. When one is forced to speak or there is demand for one to speak fast, in that case, one could inadvertently stammer. In this situation, one could say another thing instead of the intended statement because of nervousness.

(2)                Another way it comes is through stress. This could be that which is already in the body due to cases like hunger, ill-health, or sleeplessness. This greatly influences speech making.

(3)                This sometimes comes from not knowing what to say in a situation as at when demanded. Like in children who are in eccentricity as such do not know how to speak, he or she stammers as a result of the struggle.

(4)                Anger makes some people stammer. When they are annoyed hitches are clinched to their speeches and in that situation, most go crazy violent.

POSSIBLE TREATMENTS

Early Caught-Up

There is no medical or magical ‘cure’ for stammering but an early caught-up could help. Since some come as a result of mimicking stammerers or through play, acting as one, it is advisable that guardians need to check the speech of their children and wards.

Ogba myths about the cure:

Ogbaman in the northern part of Rivers State of Nigeria believes that if water is put in a gung and drank as possible in the morning hours regularly, it reduces the hitch that comes in form of hiccup. The more it is been drink from it, the more reduction of the intensity if possible.

Traditionally, the local sound instrument called gung symbolises vocalism. It is a source of announcing and summon of which villagers converge on hearing the sound, so also the call of voice could be enjoyable when audible and understandable. The more water passes through the gung wetting the throat to produce a good sound, the more the throat becomes vocal, hearable and understandable without hitches. As it is being smoothened with water, so the talk and communication are expected to be and all works according to deep believe otherwise faith.

Involvement in Rhythms

A careful study of stammerers found that they do not stammer while singing, as a result it be believed that if one regularly sing and talk as if one is singing can gradually reduce the stammering to normalcy. Keep whistling, whispering and playing with songs it would systematically smoothen your tongue and it would be well with you. Learn to speak regularly in chorus form as if you as singing in rap.

Avoid Anger and Speaking much when Angry

One should try as much as possible to avoid anger and possibly speak when you are angry. This will gradually reduce the hitches in your speeches because when one is angry ordinarily, he or makes struggles to make good and understandable the speech, not a boring one. When the anger is reducing definitely stammering reduces.



Electronic Means

Altered auditory feedback, so that people who stutter hear their voice differently, has been used for years in the treatment of stammering.  Altered auditory feedback effect can be produced by speaking in chorus with another person, by blocking out the person who stutters' voice while talking (masking), by delaying slightly the voice of the person who stutters (delayed auditory feedback) or by altering the frequency of the feedback