Stop Stuttering

When your child is already five and continues to stutter then you must seriously consider consulting a specialist.  Most children will naturaly stop stuttering by this time without help.

When your child repeats whole words or phrases, prolongs syllables and words and if these occurrences are becoming frequent then it is time to consult an expert. More serious signs are strained speech, tightening of facial and vocal muscles, vocal tension causing loudness or high pitch, disturbing facial and body movements and when your child suddenly starts to totally avoid speaking, rather than just stop stuttering.

A speech language pathologist is the specialist who will check your child’s condition. This person studied and trained in human communication, its development and disorders. Most of these specialists have a master’s degree and must pass a licensure or state certification exam in order for them to practice this profession. They must also have a certificate from the ASHA or American Speech Language Hearing Association. A speech assistant can help out in the absence of the doctor.

If you are having difficulties looking for a legit speech language pathologist, you can seek assistance from the Stuttering Foundation of America. Also, you may check nearby hospitals, clinic, and universities for referrals. Usually these places will conduct testing and therapy for stutterers.

Make sure you provide the appropriate environment for your child at home. All family members should be very understanding of the child’s condition. Encourage the child to talk and in return talk to him or her slowly. Provide quality time so the child can ask questions and never cut their sentences. Just do not exaggerate when you speak in a moderate pace since it will just sound unusual and strange.

The most challenging aspect of this ordeal is controlling your emotions especially when the stuttering becomes more frequent. Always keep in mind that you have sought help already and there are no quick fixes. Allow your child to learn at his or her own pace and triumph over this condition.

Constantly reassure your child that it is ok to have this speech disorder. Do not show your frustration. Keep a positive outlook on this situation.

There are three types of stuttering. The last two types will require the expertise and experience of a professional trained to handle these conditions.

Parents should take this speech disorder seriously. Do not delay what you can do to your child’s well being. You can start by conducting a simple test by observing your child talk for about ten minutes. If your child stutters for more than three times and if you have a family history of this speech impediment then you really need to seek the help of a speech language pathologist.

Remember that there is still no cure for stuttering. The best things professionals can do are treating or minimize it. Do not be misled by people who claim they have a miracle drug to cure it. Do not give up easily; always remember the process of elimination to ensure that your child is getting the most appropriate therapy.

Do not take this condition for granted. Some children outgrew it, others did not. Always prioritize your child’s need for a healthy and normal life and help them stop stuttering.

Stuttering ASHA, Children, Specialist

Stuttering is a common speech disorder worldwide. There are millions of people who have this condition and they all need our help. We must be informed on how stuttering affects them especially the kids. Once we know how kids are being affected by this speech impediment then we can come up with ways on how we can effectively help them.

Awareness is a must

Knowledge is power. We must know what stuttering is so that we can help kids effectively. Stuttering or stammering is considered as a speech impediment that disrupts the flow of normal speech involuntarily. Ordinarily, sounds, syllables and words are repeated in a specific pattern such as “li-li-li-like that” or prolonged manner such as “llllllike that”.

Often, there is the absence of sounds in syllables and words. There are also abrupt stoppages when a person is talking. In some cases, especially in kids, stuttering begins from the start of a word or phrase. There are also cases when the difficulty is at the end of the word or phrase.

Knowing what causes stuttering are the next step to help kids who suffer from this condition. Studies have shown that causes of this speech disorder range from unknown origin at all to inherited and genetic reasons. A growing number of experts believe that stuttering is caused by genetics since there are cases that this speech impediment runs in the family.

Some experts claim that anxiety, stress, rejection and other forms of negativities can be associated to this speech problem since these factors affect the child’s ability in expressing himself.

Another cause being looked at can be traced at the stage of a child’s language development. This theory says that this speech disorder may be caused by developmental glitch when kids who are learning to talk have difficulties expressing themselves fluidly especially when it comes to expressing their needs and wants. Usually as kids grow older they naturally outgrow this disorder. The proper encouragement given by parents, siblings, teachers and peers can immensely help in the improvement of their condition.

Stuttering as some theorized is neurogenic. It means that the connection between the brain and the muscles are affected somewhere. Experts say that this is apparent to people who have suffered from mild heart attacks, cardiac arrests and repeated strokes. This is of course more applicable to older people but can manifest in kids who had accidents, head injuries and undergone operations or medical procedures.

Once you have narrowed down the possible causes of stuttering, you can now proceed with the alternative solutions available. These come in the form of therapies and drills. Nowadays, there are various therapies that can help improve this condition but still keep in mind that there is still no cure. In treating developmental stuttering, parents actively participate in restructuring the child’s speaking technique in order to reduce occurrences of stuttering.

Other effective solutions that can help improve this speech disorder are by providing a relaxed speaking environment. An environment that has few distractions can improve this condition. By refraining from being too critical about the child’s condition and practicing active listening one can help alleviate this speech flaw. There are cases that medication may be prescribed. Also, the integration of electronic devices can improve fluency.

There are also some therapies that focus on unlearning faulty ways of speaking or relearning how to speak correctly. It is still highly recommended that parents consult a competent, licensed and certified speech language pathologist to find the most appropriate treatment for their child.

Stuttering Kids

There is no known medical cure for this speech disorder. Most children who experience stuttering at an early age can just normally outgrow this impediment. In this case, treatments and therapies are not needed in their situation. But when a child continues to have this condition at the age of five onwards, then parents should take this seriously. They should consult a speech language pathologist or a speech developmental pediatrician to check is the stuttering is still permissible.

As for stutterers who are already in their adult stage, it has been discovered that their condition did not improve because of the lack of attention from experts, treatment and negligence.

Experts’ Advice

Practice makes permanent. Speech therapists believe that reinforcement of the drills and techniques learned from the therapies can improve a stutterer’s condition. The need for a trained professional may not be necessary anymore if they will just follow the tips and exercises that will help them outgrow this condition.

1. Maintain good posture all the time. Good posture helps a lot in the elimination of speech disorders for both the young and old. It is very effective for people who have a tendency to slur their word when they speak. The slurring of words is associated to stuttering since they are similar in slow production of sounds. The two may be alike in some aspects but some speech therapists claim that having a good posture does not suffice in eradicating this speech disorder. There may be factual scientific basis connecting poor posture to stuttering still it does not hurt much if maintain a good one just to eliminate this possible cause.

2. When producing the sounds of the letters b,d,g,k, and v. It is best to push out your stomach. These are the letters that have the highest occurrence of stuttering. This is because of the air pushing the sounds of these letters are difficult for some people to say properly thus creating a stuttering effect on these letters or even the words containing these letters.

3. Breathe properly. Deep breathing is vital to speech simply because the air flow controls the sound production of letters in words. The proper breathing in and out helps in the proper alignment of the body. This will make it easier for one’s body to control the flow of air coming out of the mouth. Also, proper breathing relaxes the muscles of the body. Keep in mind that anxiety and pressure are major factors influencing this speech disorder. Breathing properly calms one’s nerves and eradicates these factors.

Stuttering Drugs, Treatment

The search for the miracle cure for stuttering still eludes a lot of people. Currently, there is still no permanent cure discovered. Different continents have been searched for the so called miracle cure for this speech disorder but it still is a mystery. The magic drug may not be existent but there are treatments and therapies that are available to people who have this condition.

Decades have passed yet finding a permanent cure for this speech impediment is still unknown. As mentioned earlier, the miracle cure may not exist but the therapies and treatment available to stutterers can help alleviate their condition. It will definitely take time and will require a lot of understanding and patience for the patients and their families. There is no quick fix and just like any speech disorder, religiously applying the techniques will help in the long term improvement of a stutterer’s condition.

Stuttering Cure, Miracle

How the Lidcombe Program Can Help Treat Stuttering During the Pre-School Years.

One of the techniques that can help children who stutter is the Lidcombe Program.

The Lidcombe program was developed to treat stuttering in children below the age of 6. It is based on a body of laboratory-operant condition research and is done in two stages. In the first stage the objective is to stop the child from stuttering. The second is to reinforce the first so this can be maintained for a longer period.

This program was developed in Australia and is widely used in Canada, United Kingdom and New Zealand. Some are already using the Lidcombe program in South Africa, United States and several non-English speaking nations.

What makes the Lidcombe program unique from the other therapies available is the fact that it is being conducted by parents and not the speech language pathologist. The SLP is still there but his or her job is to simply teach the parents how to do this treatment even in their absence.

The use of Lidcombe program is a very direct one. This would mean that feedbacks are immediately given to the child about their speech. There are no negative feedbacks given to the child. If a child did not make any mistakes, the parents will just say “that was smooth talking” or ” bumps free”. On the other hand, if the child stutters, the parents will acknowledge it and say “try it again without the word getting stuck” or “that’s a stuck word”. Feedback does not have to be given each time the child speaks. The parent can choose specific times in giving appropriate and significant feedback.

A log book or a diary should be used by the parents. This will help measure the child’s progress. One can use a scale of 0 to 10. If it’s a 0, that means the child did not stutter for that day. If the child scores a 10, then severe stuttering occurred that day.

Assessment will be made by the child, parent and speech language pathologist every week. The scores of the previous week will be monitored and analyzed.

The Lidcombe program consisted of two stages. When the child continues to maintain a low stutter score that is the only time that stage 2 of this program starts.

The treatment for the Lidcombe program differs and this depends on the child’s progress. On the average, most kids move to stage 2 after 11 visits to the clinic.

The key to the success of the Lidcombe program is the positive support of both parents and children. Since the treatment is done in a relaxed and comfortable environment which are the home and the person involved in the treatment is either the mother or father.

Parents who want to the Lidcombe program should keep in mind that this treatment must not interfere with the kid’s communication. It should be perceived as a normal routine or just a part of a child’s everyday life. There is no need to set a specific place and time.

Practice makes permanent. Learning this technique may take some time. It is permissible for the speech language pathologist to visit the home to check if parents are doing it properly.

The Lidcombe program’s success lies in the hands of the parents. Once the parents mastered the skills that are being taught to them, then that’s the time the child will be able to minimize the occurrence of stuttering. If one has a child who stutters beyond the age of six, a different program has to be used and considered because this program can only work best for children in their pre-school years.

Stuttering Children, Lidcombe, Pre-School

Stuttering occurs to child whose age ranges from two to five. Usually this speech disorder disappear as they child grows older and develop his or her speech. This should not make parents be complacent and just take this condition for granted. The following are just few things that can help parents and the child handle this condition.

1. When speaking, make sure you say things slowly and with frequent pauses. Studies show that this approach is very effective as compared to criticizing your child. Remember that having this condition is not your child’s fault.

2. Never finish your child’s sentence even if you already know what he or she wants to say or ask. Give them time to finish what they have to say. The keyword here is listening to your child not evaluating his expression.

3. Minimize the number of questions you ask your child. Give them more time to speak freely. In this manner, you allow your child to express his or her own ideas. Always acknowledge what your child said so that he or she will know that you heard and understood well. Use facial expressions or other body language. Maintain eye contact because this assures your child that you are actively participating and supporting his or her battle with this speech disorder.

4. Encourage your child to speak daily. A good example of this is when your family is eating. Since everyone is present at the dinner table it allows your child to practice and express himself or herself freely. Make sure there are no distractions such as radio or television.

5. Devote a time to your child’s needs. Set a certain time in the morning, afternoon or evening that you join in his or her activities. This helps in building self esteem and confidence in your child since they can converse with you freely with no hints of rejection.

6. You should share the responsibilities of handling your child’s condition properly with all the family members. The more your child is talking the faster it is to improve his or her condition.

7. Reinforcement if necessary. It is not necessary to correct every mispronounced word your child utters. What is important is for your child to enjoy talking. If a parent is constantly correcting his or her child’s mistake that is where fear, anxiety and stress sets in.

These are the things that a parent or a family member can do to support a stutterer with his or her plight. A family member can only do and give so much of his or her time. If the condition is not improving or has worsened, it is best to seek help from a specialist. An expert of the various techniques that can treat this disorder is known as a speech language pathologist.

The SLP will conduct a series of diagnostic exams. You will be asked several questions and you will have one on one interaction with the SLP and your child. You will also have to keep a journal to track the frequency of your child’s stuttering. This is a trial and error procedure to help eliminate the inappropriate treatments and come up with the best therapies.

In looking for a speech language pathologist, make sure that he or she is professional licensed and certified by the state and by the American Speech Language Hearing Association. If still unsure, it is best to get a referral from a clinic or hospital, nearby university or from the Stuttering Foundation of America.

Stuttering Children

Many people don’t realize it but stuttering greatly affects the emotional state of a person, especially that of a child. The emotional effects of stuttering on children alone are very much devastating on his or her emotional health. Not only that, stuttering unfavorably affects not just a child’s social skills but his or her communication skills as well.  

Because of stuttering, many kids think that making friends and building relationships become very disappointing and sometimes traumatizing. Having to live through stuttering at this stage in a person’s life is very awkward and painful. Friends also don’t come easy for children with stutters according to research kids with a stutter often have to cope up with bullying from peers and classmates.  

Studies say that 40 percent of school-aged kids who suffer from stuttering reveal that they been a victim of teasing, bullying, name-calling and worst of all, experienced physical harassment because of their condition. They confess that just because they don’t speak too well, other kids simply don’t respect them and don’t listen when they try to say something. The tendency of this inability to express one’s self is for stuttering kids to be introverts, always veering away from crowds who might judge and tease them.  

The majority of school administrators also agrees that children that stutter are bullied 82 percent of the time inside the classroom, within the school vicinity, and even outside the school premises. This is because many kids without speech problems try to make fun of them especially when there’s no adult nearby.  

Kids get their self-confidence and esteem from the people around them, people like their families, authority figures or people outside their family unit that they look up to and of course their localized peer group.  As children become more mature, the influence that their friends have on them steadily increases and the need to be part of a bigger stratum in society becomes more prevalent.   

Children suffering from stuttering are often set aside and picked last or not picked at all to join any of the related activities of a certain group. This makes them feel that they are unwanted, resulting to low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, mood swings, lack of initiative, depression attacks, and a weak personality in the long run.  

What can be done? 

Parents and teachers can greatly help a lot to lessen the emotional effects on shuttering on children. This is because they can directly affect how the child with stuttering problems think and socialize with others.  

For parents, they should always give their full support to their kids that suffer from stuttering no matter what. They should be able to explain to their kids what is their condition, its causes, how it happens, and what could be done about it to make kids feel that they are not alone in dealing with the problem. Parents must always provide their kids an environment that where they can feel safe, loved, and nurtured for them to overcome the condition at their own pace.  

Teachers can also play a big role in helping minimize the effects of stuttering on kids. This is by extending a helping hand and more patience to child in the school setting. Teachers must realize that kids who stutter tend to lose self esteem quickly so they must do something to make the child understand that he or she is not inferior compared to other classmates.

Stuttering Children, Emotiona

The treatment for preschoolers who stutter is different from those school aged kids. This is because both have different objectives. For preschoolers, the goal is to help the child develop normal speech. As for school aged children, the goal is to treat the causes of stuttering.

School aged kids should learn to control their physical behavior whenever they stutter. Their eyes usually blink while their bodies or heads shake. These are the physical manifestations that school aged children need to control so that their chosen therapy do not just focus on fluency.

In this manner, you will have to bring your child to a speech language pathologist. These professional are trained to work comfortably with kids at varying ages. Make sure that you are consulting a certified and licensed speech language pathologist. If you are not sure where to find one, you can always check online or phone directories. Prioritize on checking the website of the Stuttering Foundation of America.

Currently, there is no known cure yet for stuttering. Each case is unique that is why treatment for school aged kids has to be customized and personalized. You need to bring your child first to a speech language pathologist so that diagnostic exams can be done.

The therapy will vary depending on the result of the diagnostic exams. The main goal is to make sure that kids who stutter will be able to communicate freely and effectively. Since there is permanent cure yet for stuttering, you cannot expect 100% improvement in fluency to your child’s condition.

What you can expect from all these therapies is that your child can effectively deal with this speech disorder. Also, that stuttering will not in any manner inhibit them from communicating.

How does the treatment for stuttering work for kids? The process involves a number of components. Examples that are very common for kids who stutter are the physical disruptions and tension in their bodies.

If there are physical tensions in the body, a speech language pathologist can use one of several techniques such as easy starts, slow speech, easy onsets, smooth movements and easy speech. Keep in mind that it’s a trial and error stage. This will help in finding out the most effective therapy to your child’s condition.

It is common for any person who feels stuck or trapped to experience physical tension. The best thing to do is to relax. This is easier said than done though since it’s very different when a child is in the moment of stuttering. One effective technique is to let the child understand that this speech disorder is not disappearing. He or she should not fight it instead find a way to work with it in a harmonious manner possible.

This technique may sound strange, but this strategy works because the child is relaxed and more knowledgeable of his or her condition. A number of studies show that this approach lessens the stuttering and improves communication.

It takes time to treat school aged kids with this speech impediment. The specialist has to do many tests before recommending the most appropriate treatment or therapy. As a parent, the best thing you can do is cooperate with the specialist and help in the reinforcement of the lessons from each therapy learned. Unconditional love and support helps in the fast improvement of your child’s condition.

Stuttering school aged kids who do not get proper help for their conditions will definitely have problems in their adult lives. The will not be able to socialize properly. They will always lose good opportunities that will allow them to speak or share their ideas. Their development as a human being will be stunted. They will miss out a lot of things life has to offer.

Stuttering Children, Kids, School

Adults who suffer from stuttering are faced with various difficulties in their daily lives. Since most of them have poor self-esteem they are constantly struggling when it comes to human interaction. They cannot get their dream jobs nor can the present themselves properly in interviews. Their inability to express themselves hampers their career as well as their personal growth. So just imagine how kids are handling this condition. They are still developing their ability to speak and social skills and they are being judged unfairly by some people in the society.

On Your Mind

It would be bliss for stutterers to see themselves one day free from this speech disorder. That they can just talk their hearts out and enjoy the simple pleasures of talking. Currently, studies are being conducted to substantiate their claims. Once they have gathered enough proof then they can conclude that this condition is strongly connected to the brain.

Is this condition a result of someone’s active imagination? In Minnesota, researchers have proven that although emotional anxieties trigger stuttering, what strongly affects this condition are the irregularities in the anatomical function of their brain areas that are solely responsible to speech and language pattern.

Neurology, a scientific journal owned by the American Academy of Neurology published an article showing evidences leading to the conclusion that the brain greatly affects the speech patterns of people. They published the first findings about how specific areas of the brain are responsible to patterns of speech and this puts a person at great risks in developing this condition.

Different Studies

There are on-going studies and researches being conducted to find the real explanation and solution to this condition. Anne Foundas, MD of Tulane University in New Orleans conducted a study on this speech disorder. In her research, she tested 16 patients with controlled cases of stuttering and tested 16 patients with unrelenting PDS or persistent developmental stuttering. She used MRI scans to measure these individual’s brains. She found out that all patients with PDS have significantly bigger right and left temporal lobes and the shapes of their brains contain anomalies and irregularities than those who can control their condition.

Your Call

If one has a child who has a stuttering condition, one cannot just be complacent and sit comfortably at home waiting for all the studies to be completed. The results of the studies can provide enough evidence or might just strengthen the beliefs that one has on his or her child’s condition. The best thing one can do is to observe and determine other factors that can worsen his or her child’s conditions.

1. Look at your environment. Where do you usually go with your child? How do people react to your kid’s condition? People’s reaction to your child can greatly affect your child’s response to them. As parents, it is your right to intervene in your child’s social interaction. Inform your child of their condition so that he or she will be able to handle different reactions of people to their condition. In this manner, you are creating a better and loving environment to your child.

2. Always observe your child’s social skills. Make them realize and understand that in the real world there are strong personalities who might intimidate them or make fun of their condition. What you can do is to do some role plays that will help your child be more prepared and pro-active with their condition.

3. If studies about this speech disorder have not progressed yet, be open to other treatments. You might as well consult a speech language pathologist who can help you with various speech therapies suitable to your child’s condition. Never lose hope.

Stuttering brain, Child, Children

Most people think that only children stutter. Well this may surprise them but a number of adults still suffer from this speech disorder.

Some children who experience stuttering were able to eradicate this speech disorder in a normal manner as they age. This is a remarkable feat for them. However, it is a totally different scenario for adults. Since this disorder has been accompanying them all their lives, the disorder becomes part of them. There have been speech techniques that can help improve their situation. But it does not guarantee anything. They can just one day experience a major relapse.

Since a relapse is very possible, there is a concern whether practitioners who are teaching adult stutterers should focus on improving their speech or just help them face their fear and reality that this speech disorder is permanent.

Experts have their own take on this condition. The more challenging aspect of this speech impediment is improving one’s fluency. This involves speech modification. Some examples are reducing the talk/speech rate, fluency shaping, and easier beginnings as well as pausing.

Stuttering modification therapy is a very popular technique that will help in the easy acceptance of this speech disorder. It has four stages namely identification, desensitization, modification and stabilization.

The first stage which is identification, will help you recognize the events that trigger or cause stuttering. In desensitization, in scenarios that will prompt you to speak in public, you tell your listeners to be more patient and understanding of your speech disorder. The third stage will help you learn to talk and stop. This will enable you to look for easier words to use. Lastly, in stabilization this is more of the reinforcement of the modification stage. You have somewhat attained expert level and just stutter occasionally.

In fluency shaping therapy, one is being taught to speak with relaxed breathing, vocal cords and articulation. You get to learn to breathe properly using your diaphragm. This technique will gently increase vocal fold tension when you stretch vowels or start a word. You sound fluent since you speak in a slower pace.

A person who is suffering from stuttering is accountable to his or her preferred treatment. He or she will decide his or her fate when it comes to his improvement, choice of specialist and therapy.

Some doctors will not agree with just one pro-active choice. Usually they would integrate two pro-active approaches that will help improve this condition. This would mean integrating fluency techniques with those of psychological therapies. In this manner, proper expectations can be set properly.

Some adults have tried scientific breakthroughs like those of electronic devices that can alter how the speaker hears his or her own voice. The most common devices are masking auditory feedback; frequency shifted auditory feedback and delayed auditory feedback.

Delayed auditory and frequency shifted auditory feedback reduces stuttering from 70 to 80%. There are no therapies being integrated with the use of these devices. As for the other remaining device, there are not enough studies that can validate its affectivity. Although it has some promising results because it can pull users out of their silent block episodes.

Drugs can also help reduce stuttering. They are most popularly knows as dopamine antagonist medications. The only problem about these pills is that they have side effects and only reduce 50% of stuttering.

Stuttering is one speech disorder that does not have a permanent cure unlike other disorders. The technique applied to one stutterer may not be helpful to another patient. It is finding the appropriate therapy that will work best for you. If you are adult who still experience stuttering. Integrate all the techniques that you know with the necessary acceptance that you have with your condition. This will bring better and lasting results. In the long run this will make you a better speaker with minimized episodes of stuttering.

Stuttering Adults, Treatment