I get so emotional sometimes that I get tears when I read articles or watch movies or see someone suffering. I want to know if it’s just the empathy and me being sensitive or is something wrong with me deep inside and my locked-up emotions are getting out through these?
My three-year-old has started stammering and I think it’s because I shout at him too much. Can I ever, ever reverse this?
Let us not assume that this is a simple cause-and-effect equation. Though stammering (stuttering) does have an emotional component, just shouting at your child need not be the reason for it. Young children have non-fluent speech during the initial years of language acquisition, and this is more common in boys. This non-fluent speech will be severe sometimes and may be completely absent for a phase of time. You can meet a speech language therapist for support. At home, you can support him by allowing for a lot of free, gadget-free and unstructured play, especially in wet sand and with paints. Don’t make him conscious of speech when he experiences a challenge and don’t put him in a spot (like make him speak up in a group or in front of guests). Interaction with peers where he can confidently use speech in free play is also greatly beneficial.
Aarti C Rajaratnam is a Salem-based consultant psychologist at Million Smiles, and is specialized in childhood and adolescent mental health with close to two decades of experience, working closely with parents, teachers and students.
ADVERTISEMENT