by Chiara Daina
In schools and in the world of work, derision and judgment are made for those who suffer from stuttering, have hoarse, childish or effeminate voices. A telephone service to offer listening and support
Bullying also affects people with voice-related problems. The Voice shaming Observatory was created to monitor episodes of discrimination against them, inform about the phenomenon and promote a culture of respect. A project of the Vivavoce association, which was formed in 2019 by a group of former stutterers and is chaired by Giovanni Muscarà, 41 years old, a victim of voice shaming since childhood. «My classmates laughed in my face during the exams – he says -, the teachers said that if I had studied more I wouldn’t have stuttered, even the professors at the university thought that I wasn’t prepared enough, while in the workplace my difficulty speaking was mistaken for agitation. Nobody looks at you for the skills and value you have and everyone judges you according to a stereotype.”
Oral communication disorders
The Observatory will have the aim of investigating discriminatory acts against all those who suffer from an oral communication disorder. «These are disorders referring to the quality of the voice, which can be hoarse, more effeminate in a man or infantile in an adult, to pronunciation, as in the case of stuttering, or to the production and understanding of sentences, as in aphasia» he explains Antonio Schindler, full professor of audiology at the University of Milan, director of the phoniatry unit of the Sacco hospital in Milan, as well as scientific director of the Observatory. «Reports of episodes of voice shaming – continues Muscarà – are sent to us through the telephone desk and the Whatsapp chat of the Vivavoce association, which offer listening and support. Another channel is the patients of our association’s medical center, dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of communication disorders. Finally, a third source will be other patient organizations with speech problems with whom we will start a collaboration.”
The data coming from schools
The Voice shaming Observatory took a first photograph on a sample of 205 stuttering people treated at the medical center of the Vivavoce association, with an average age of 24 years. Almost all of the interviewees (99%) have been victims of voice shaming, that is, derision, judgment, humiliation or insults because of their voice, and school in seven out of ten cases is the place where this bad experience occurs. For approximately a quarter of the sample, the bullying episode occurred during primary school. But in adolescence the risk of being teased increases and affects almost 30% of children in lower secondary schools, reaching 36% in upper secondary schools. Just under half of those interviewed reported having suffered mockery and derision more than once. About one in three have been subjected to judgmental stares or laughter. In other cases (8.2%) they were excluded from the group of friends and more rarely (4.3%) they received physical or verbal violence. 45% of stutterers have experienced forms of voice shaming for at least two months.
The reactions of the victims
The most frequent emotional reaction of victims is humiliation (62%), followed by a sense of inadequacy (53%), anger (46%) and frustration (45%). But the majority (62%) responded that they still tried to ignore the ridicule, while others (19%) even pretended to laugh about it. “40% of those interviewed – reports Muscarà – explained that they would have liked to be understood and defended by someone, such as a teacher, a friend or a colleague”. Underlining that “often those who suffer from voice problems end up making great professional and social sacrifices precisely for the fear of being exposed to this phenomenon”.
Meaning of stuttering
What is stuttering? «An alteration of verbal fluency characterized by repetitions of words, syllables or letters, or by interruptions and grimacing of the face. The cause is unknown and at the moment only hypotheses can be made about its origins, namely that the disorder has a genetic and an environmental component, that is, that it derives from a context that reinforces non-fluent language behavior, for example a parent who shows too much concern for a physiological stutter that can appear in young children, between 2 and 4 years old, when they begin to formulate more complex sentences, explains Schindler.
Mistakes not to make
«The mistakes not to be made – underlines Antonio Schindler – are: paying too much attention to the problem, anticipating the child’s words, losing patience and mocking him. The best strategy is to do nothing and give the child time to express himself. At least in half of the cases the problem falls between pre-school and school age.”
Who to contact
Who should you turn to for the diagnosis and treatment of stuttering? The reference specialist is the audiologist and speech therapist and up to adolescence also the neuropsychiatrist. The fundamental figure who works with doctors is the speech therapist. Sometimes a psychologist is also included in the treatment. «The process – specifies the professor – lasts a few months but a follow up is necessary, that is, monitoring over time, since relapses can occur in different phases of life».
Can it be healed?
Can stuttering be cured? Schindler: «In subjects in whom the disorder persists after starting school, it can manifest itself with different frequency and intensity until it is completely masked». But the most common communication problem, the expert says, is dysphonia, i.e. the alteration of the quality or intensity of the voice: «It affects up to 15% of the population compared to 1% for stuttering. An example is children or adults with a hoarse voice or a childish voice in adults, which derives from a difficulty in accepting the change in one’s body in the transition between puberty and adulthood. Another disorder of speech articulation is dysarthria – concludes Schindler -, a difficulty in controlling the facial muscles involved in speech due to neurological damage resulting from neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis, head trauma, stroke”.
October 20, 2023 (modified October 20, 2023 | 12:38)
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED