Stuttering Therapies
Information about the best therapies
presently available to stutterers can be found on this page. Stuttering can
basically be treated with four different therapeutic approaches:
Stuttering
self-therapy
Electronic devices
Speech Language Pathologist
Speech Clinics
There are two things you should consider when
choosing a stuttering therapy:
1. Stuttering cannot be eliminated
overnight. If you have been living with stuttering for years or even decades
it won’t go away that easily. Whatever therapy you choose, it will probably
take several weeks or months before stuttering can be
effectively controlled. Claims that you can “cure” stuttering in a few days should be
looked at with extreme caution.
2. Stuttering is not only a speech disorder but also a communication and
behavioral disorder. Stuttering can be compared to an iceberg and the speech
disorder only represents the tip of the stuttering iceberg. The bulk of the
iceberg is made of the communication and behavioral disorders as well as all
the negative feelings such as shame, guilt, embarrassment etc. A therapy
that exclusively focuses on the speech disorder is bound to fail over the
long run. An effective therapy should be based on a holistic approach and
should address every aspect of stuttering: the speech disorder (the
"disfluencies") as well as the communication and behavioral disorders and
negative feelings associated with stuttering. See
What is Stuttering? for more
information.
Stuttering
Self-Therapies
Self-therapy is an affordable and
effective way to treat stuttering and this is definitely where you should
start.
To get started, all you need to do is invest a few dollars and commit
yourself to spending 30 minutes to one hour a day doing simple exercises.
You will probably notice significant improvements in your fluency within a
few weeks and should be able to eliminate stuttering within a few months.
We have chosen two self-therapy
stuttering programs for you:
Comprehensive
Stuttering Therapy (Phillip J. Roberts):
Comprehensive Stuttering Therapy is probably the most comprehensive and most
effective self-therapy presently available to stutterers. It includes
30
exercises addressing every single element of the stuttering phenomenon: the
“disfluencies” as well as the negative feelings and behaviors associated
with stuttering. By going through these exercises, the stutterer will
gradually improve his fluency and alter the destructive feelings and
behaviors that promote stuttering. The end result is a self sustainable
fluency lasting for a lifetime. Click
here to access Phillip J. Robert's web site.
Understanding &
Controlling Stuttering (William D. Parry)
Understanding & Controlling Stuttering is another excellent self-therapy
program. William Parry developed a new theory to explain stuttering.
According to his theory, stuttering results from a neurological confusion
between the voice and the Valsalva mechanism (a set of muscles that we
tighten when exerting effort). The book then suggests a technique that
eliminates stuttering by controlling the Valsalva mechanism. Click
here to access William
D. Parry's web site.
It is very likely that self-therapy is all you will need to achieve fluency.
If you still stutter after trying self-therapy, you can then consider other
therapeutic options. In any case, reading these books will provide you with
in-depth knowledge about stuttering, and this knowledge will be extremely
useful when visiting a speech-language pathologist or attending an intensive
stuttering program in a speech clinic.
If one of your relatives stutters,
we strongly recommend that you read these books. Many stutterers feel that
they are left alone to struggle helplessly with stuttering. They wish they
could talk about it with their friends or relatives but they feel so
embarrassed by their disfluencies that it is difficult for them to take the
first step. These books provide valuable information about stuttering and
will help you understand the feelings and frustrations experienced by
stutterers. After reading these books, it will be easier for you to take the
initiative and talk about stuttering with your relatives. You will then be
able to provide the support the stutterer needs and suggest a therapy to
follow.
If your young child stutters, you will definitely
find these books useful as they will help you to understand
stuttering as well as your child's inner feelings. Besides,
Comprehensive Stuttering Therapy (Phillip
J. Roberts) explains in details what parents can do to
help their child become fluent.
Electronic devices
Fluency enhancing devices are based on DAF (Delayed Auditory
Feedback) and FAF (Frequency-Shifting Auditory Feedback). The electronic
device picks up your voice from a microphone, delays the sound for a
fraction of a second (in the case of DAF) or shifts the frequency (in the
case of FAF) and feeds your voice back through earphones.
DAF and FAF can instantly reduce and in most cases eliminate stuttering with
minimal efforts from your side. But you should keep in mind that DAF and FAF
should ideally be used in combination with a comprehensive stuttering
self-therapy or visits to a speech pathologist. As explained earlier,
stuttering is a communication and behavioral problem and you will need to
change your communication patterns, your attitudes and your way of life. You
will also need to learn fluency enhancing techniques and to synchronize
breathing with your speech.
DAF and FAF are not a substitute to a
holistic approach to stuttering but can certainly help you to successfully
follow a comprehensive stuttering therapy. DAF and FAF will help you slow
down. You will therefore be more in control of your speech and it will be
easier for you to put the fluency techniques that you learned from the
self-therapy or from the speech pathologist into practice. After a while,
you should be able to speak fluently without the help of electronic devices.
DAF and FAF devices can be ordered from
Casa Futura
Technologies.
Speech Language Pathologist:
Another way to treat stuttering is to visit a speech-language
pathologist. Visiting a SLP is costly both in terms of time and money and
you will probably want to spend some time reading about stuttering before
your first visit. This will help you define your goals and make your
discussions with the SLP more fruitful. We recommend that you read about the
two self- help stuttering therapies
described above.
During your first visit to the
speech-language pathologist, you should make sure that the person is
experienced and comfortable in treating stuttering and that a holistic
approach will be used.
Speech Clinics
Several speech clinics provide intensive therapy programs
for stuttering. Click here
to access our list of speech clinics. Please note that we do not endorse any
particular organization and this list is only provided to help you locate a
speech clinic. We recommend that you keep in mind the
guidelines given earlier about selecting a speech clinic: 1) Stuttering
cannot be eliminated overnight; this means that an intensive therapy program
for stuttering should be followed-up by a therapy of some sort. 2) Only a
holistic approach can effectively reduce and eliminate stuttering and you
should make sure the speech clinic provides a comprehensive therapy
addressing every aspect of the stuttering phenomenon.
Again, it is important that you gain some basic
understanding about stuttering before contacting any speech clinic. We
recommend that you first read books about stuttering such as
Comprehensive Stuttering Therapy (Phillip
J. Roberts) and
Understanding & Controlling Stuttering (William D. Parry). |