Where the stuttering "hides"

Continuation, the beginning is in # 22

   I SHALL remind You, what  is the point of discussion. It is found out, that stuttering is connected with  supertension  and overexcitation of the motional speech center, which leads to spasms. Therefore for treatment of stuttering they practically always use medicines, inhibitory the central nervous system, including medicaments and hypnosis. However, since children and young men, who should  cope with high  intellectual and physical loads,  suffer from stuttering the most frequently,  it is clear, that inhibition of CNS is not the best way out. Especially  since the  cancellation  of inhibitory influence, in 2-4 weeks stuttering frequently comes back.  

How to  do without inhibition of CNS ?

Moreover, in our center we analyzed  the speech spectrum  of a number of  stammering people and  defined areas,  where “spasms” – overtones, "responsible" for stuttering are hidden. These areas are pointed at figure by figure 1. And also areas, insufficiency of which makes a voice of a stammering person hesitating and wimp. These are areas 3 and 4.  

This discovery, which is protected by the international patent, explains a great deal. For example, why the majority of people stammer on consonants and do not stammer on vowels and during singing. Why, when a stammering person is indignant and  his speech suddenly becomes "vivid", stuttering suddenly disappears. Why stuttering decreases during  transition to some European languages, in which consonants are less "explosive", than in Russian, and generally why some people  stammer on concordant "s", and the others - on «p». 

 We managed to establish the complex interrelation between the electroencephalogram, speech spectrum  and speech spasms. Nobody  doubted, that biorhythms of  brain, its frequency properties were reflected in frequencies of our voice. But we proved in practice, that positive changes of the timbre and pitch of the voice improve characteristics of electroencephalogram.  

In a word, we  found a way, how not  to inhibit the work of the nervous speech centers totally during the correction of speech, but  to reconstruct it selectively, to remove the "unvoiced" low-frequency overtones, "responsible" for spasms and to add scarce overtones, which make  speech emotional: in some cases –vivid  and confident, in some - gentle and warm.  

 It looks as the follows: 

 At the first stage we use a computer, headphones and a microphone. The person starts to speak into the microphone, his speech is corrected by the computer program «BreathMaker» and sent to the headphones already corrected. That is, our patient listens to  his speech without breaks, without stuttering, like  the speech of a healthy person. Involuntarily the automatic adjustment of work of all speech centers takes place, and stuttering disappears. At the second stage the correction of speech under the visual control takes place, when we observe all its advantages and disadvantages at the screen of the monitor. 

 What You can do without assistance

  We may give  some practical advice, how  to obtain the correct timbre of speech without assistance. But right away I shall specify - these recommendations suit most of all  for the senior pupils, who can try to change their  sensation of speech  meaningly. 

Here are three rules:  

1. Everything, that is above vocal ligaments, should be weakened, including muscles of lips,  movements of which  should not be superfluous.  

2. Everything, that is under vocal ligaments, should vibrate, that is, during speech You should  feel easy vibration in the breast. That is the place, where overtones - "antidote" for  stuttering  are formed. 

 3. The pitch of a voice is to be slightly lowered  for prophylaxis  of  the vocal ligaments spasm.  As  for a pitch of the voice – it  is an independent point. Unfortunately, stammering people speak, as a matter of fact,  with "not-self”  voice - more higher, than the nature  intended for them, but this fact will be discussed  in our next publication .

 Peter SINKOVSKY