HOW TO STOP STUTTERING: 10 PRACTICAL EXERCISES - ECONOMÍA - 2024

Are you a stutterer and feel frustrated and embarrassed every time you have to speak in public? Do you think your child has symptoms of stuttering and you want to help him overcome the problem?

Well, there is good news for you. If your fluency in speaking is seriously affected because you stutter, the symptoms can be alleviated by practicing some exercises to stop stuttering.

And if you have a young child with this problem, you can help him improve his stuttering or overcome the problem. On the other hand, if you do not see results or you prefer someone experienced to dedicate themselves to it, it is advisable that you go to a pedagogue or psychopedagogue.

My son has a stutter, how do I help him?

Well, if you have a young child who stutters, starting treatment early can prevent stuttering from becoming a problem for the rest of his life.

Keep in mind that a certain degree of stuttering in children of 3 or 4 years is normal. However, you should take your child to the speech therapist for an evaluation if:

• The stutter lasts for six months or more and does not go away,
• The child shows other symptoms, such as lip tremors or rapid blinking when speaking.
• There are stutterers in the family.

After starting treatment with the speech therapist, the child should be monitored every three months to see if the stuttering is decreasing or on the contrary, it is getting worse.

Tips for parents

As a mother or father, you can help your child in the following ways:

• Provide opportunities for your child to speak in a relaxed manner. Listen to him with time, with attention and without pressing him.
• Don't react negatively when he stutters. Correct them without getting angry and praise them if they are fluent in speaking.
• Don't ask him to speak in a certain way or in front of other people.
• Speak slowly and calmly.
• When he stutters, wait patiently for him to complete the word or phrase.
• Tell him that a person can communicate well even if he stutters, that the child understands that stuttering is not something bad or embarrassing, and that it does not have to be an impediment in his life.

These psychological factors are very important to overcome or at least minimize stuttering. Remember that consultation with a specialized professional is essential to help the child overcome the problem or improve the symptoms.

10 exercises to stop stuttering

If you are already an adult and have this uncomfortable problem of stuttering, you should not lose hope, because there are techniques and treatments that can help you a lot.

Most of the techniques are exercises to improve speaking fluency, but there are also medications and devices that can be helpful.

Use electronic devices

There are devices that are placed in the ear, similar to a hearing aid, that digitally reproduce in the ear a somewhat retouched version of the voice of the person who is using it.

These types of devices can help improve speech fluency. However, there are those who think that they are not very practical to use in everyday life.

Researchers continue to study the long-term efficacy of these types of devices.

Study the option of drug treatment

While there is no specific medication for stuttering, certain medications used to control anxiety or depression have been shown to improve symptoms.

When the person feels more relaxed and calm, they show greater fluency in speaking. However, the medication must be administered with care. There may be side effects.

Acceptance

Being a stutterer is something that can happen to anyone, and it is not actually a serious problem. If you can accept your problem and even laugh at it, you will feel calmer and more relaxed when you have to speak in public and you may stutter less.

Self-help groups can be very helpful in this regard. Being part of the safe group will help you accept yourself as you are and feel better, knowing that there are many people with this problem who work every day to overcome themselves.

In addition, the group shares experiences and different tools to improve the symptoms of dysphemia.

Stand in front of the mirror

This is a technique that seems to be very simple, but it is very effective. Ideally, you should stand in front of a mirror, and if it is large, better: being able to observe yourself from the whole body will help you even more.

In front of him, alone, he begins to speak. Ask yourself questions and you answer them yourself. At first you may feel a bit strange, but seeing yourself talking, and without any problem, will be a very valuable image.

The mirror allows you to use your visual communication channel. With this, your brain is fixing an image, which on the other hand is very positive. By being alone, and without anyone watching you, you will be calm and relaxed, and it is very likely that you will not stutter.

Later, when you are in public, your brain will remember that image, that of speaking without stuttering.

Read out loud

While this is one of the great challenges for stutterers, as with all fears and barriers, they must be faced in order to overcome them. It is the only way to defeat them.

At first it is convenient to do this exercise alone, without spectators. In this way, tension and fear of ridicule are eliminated.

Over time this dynamic can be repeated but in the presence of someone, if it is a person you trust, the better. The next step will be the "normal" situation of reading in front of the public, but when that moment arrives you will have already acquired the necessary experience.

Change your attitude when you have to speak in public

This technique is used by many people, not just those who stutter.

Have you heard of "stage fright"? Well, this technique aims to eliminate that fear. If you get stuck when you speak or find that the gaze of others just blocks you and you stutter even more, then don't look at a particular person.

While the speaker should make eye contact, you can do it in a general way. Look at everyone but without looking at someone in particular.

You can look into the back of a room, or just people's heads, but never directly into their eyes. They will not notice that detail but you will feel more relaxed.

Here you can find other tips to speak better in public.

Exercise and train your breathing

Breathing is more than 50% of the stuttering problem. When you stutter, you lose coordination of speech with the inhalation and exhalation of air.

If you want, you can make a first consultation with a speech therapist so that he can better explain the functioning of all the organs that intervene when you speak.

In addition to the practical advice of the professional, there are two techniques that can always help you to speak more fluently:

• Take a deep breath before speaking. Just like if you were going to dive into the water, take two or three deep breaths. Take in as much air as possible and then exhale very slowly. You will immediately feel calm and calm.
• Breathe while you are talking. Force yourself to take small pauses during the conversation. Whether you get stuck or not, it's good to get used to it, breathing during a speech should be a habit for you.

One resource that sounds great is to pick up the phrase you finished just before taking a breath. It will sound natural, and you will have achieved your goal.

Give your way of speaking a certain rhythm

Without falling into exaggerations, you can give your speech a certain accent or song. When a stutterer gives rhythm to his sentences, he becomes less locked. Naturally, you can express a little longer syllables, without that sounding bad to the interlocutor.

Never set speed targets

It's never a good idea to set time goals when speaking, especially not when you stutter. Speed ​​is the worst enemy of dysphemia.

Never make commitments to yourself or to others, having to speak at a certain speed. Talking slowly will always be best for you.

Consult with speech therapists

Be they speech therapists, speech therapists or psychologists specialized in language issues, attending therapy can help you.

However, it is important to keep in mind that any treatment, professional or not, is not a guarantee that your stuttering will disappear completely.

That will depend on what your case is, especially what your age is and what the environment around you is like. It is never good to dump too many expectations in therapy. Not because it's not going to work for you, but because you don't want to push yourself too hard to stop stuttering.

Finally, you should bear in mind that any treatment you follow to stop stuttering will take a while to show results.

You will have to apply certain techniques and exercise with patience and perseverance for months before you notice improvements. In most cases you have to apply more than one technique and you should not be disappointed if one does not work.

The important thing is to keep in mind that you can improve with practice. If you learn to relax, if you let go of fear or shame when speaking and practice these exercises, you will surely notice that over time your speaking fluency improves and you stutter less.