School teachers educated on early identification of stuttering

AIISH Mysuru held a seminar to create awareness about stuttering among 350 school teachers. Lectures were delivered on early identification, facts & myths, guidelines, communication disorders, classroom adaptations & facilities for children with disabilities. Experts said people who stutter should get advice & help from a speech pathologist & treatment should be enjoyable. Stuttering is a speech disorder & more seen during speech & language development.

On the occasion of International Stuttering Awareness Day, the All India Speech and Hearing Institute (AIISH), Mysuru, in order to create awareness among school teachers about stuttering, conducted a seminar at the institute here on Friday, November 3.

A total of 350 teachers from H.D. Kote, Hunsur, K.R. Nagar, Mysore North, Mysore Rural, Nanjangud, Periyapatna, T. Narsipur and Mysore South areas participated. Lectures were delivered on early identification of stuttering, facts and myths, guidelines to teachers in the management of stuttering, communication disorders, classroom adaptations and facilities for children with communication disabilities.

AIISH Director (in-charge) Prof Ajish K. Abraham presided. Dr. Swapna N., Head of Clinical Services, and Dr. Sangeetha Mahesh, Chairperson of the Fluency Unit were present. Prof. Abraham, in his presidential address, said teachers also play an important role in helping the children deal with their communication disabilities by identifying the problem early.

The All India Speech Hearing Institute has been providing treatment for persons with communication disorders for the past 56 years. Many units have also been set up in the organisation for specific problems. The fluency unit is one such unit to focus on the assessment and management of stuttering functioning since 2010 where about 500 people avail clinical services every year.

During the presentation at the seminar, the experts from AIISH said people who stutter know they have a speech problem. Rather than pretending it doesn’t exist, it’s best to get advice and help from a speech pathologist. They said treatment should never be boring as speech pathologists aim to make treatment as enjoyable as possible. Some treatment may take time and be hard for some people. However, it is successful if the person is willing to work at it.

Stuttering is more seen during the stage of speech and language development. Stuttering is a speech disorder. It is not considered to be part of normal speech development, they said.