Techniques to reduce Stammering / Stuttering

Techniques to reduce Stammering / Stuttering

Once the speaker is relaxed, the techniques used to overcome stuttering can be used with confidence in the clinical set up or a protected environment to start with. Slowly and comfortably, the speaker can apply the behavior modifications and newly learnt speech patterns to various situations and settings.

1. Stuttering modification: Every stutterer has his own set of unwanted behaviors like prolongation of vowels, repetitions of sounds and words and so on. These behaviors are identified in the individual and performed voluntarily. Voluntary stuttering involves producing a stutter on purpose. This way the speaker gets a feeling of controlling his/her own stammering, which eventually reduces the negative feelings associated with stuttering. There is less tension when this happens and the speaker gets to add on a sound or word on his own and not feel bad about it.
2. Fluency Shaping: Fluent speech is the goal of the therapy for stammering. Spontaneous fluency has to be encouraged in isolated clinical environment and generalized to the outside world. When spontaneous fluency is not possible, the speaker can be taught to control his/her fluency, to produce an easier and less stressful type of stuttering. The methods involved in fluency shaping include loosening the contacts of speech muscles, correction of faulty breathing pattern, pausing deliberately, easy onset of phrases or words, prolonging the sounds or words, and many others.
3. Integrated approaches to reduce stammering: Both modification and fluency methods can help when used in combination and is widely accepted therapy technique for stammering.
4. Techniques used by therapists: When time is ripe, the therapist might use certain techniques to carry out the learnt behaviors to outside the clinic. Using telephone, speaking in front of a known and comfortable audience, making announcements and many other situations can help the stutterer generalize his modification, overcome stuttering and make the learnt behaviors as habits.