Stuttering: Therapy

Only when a child no longer likes to speak, avoids speaking, when even conspicuous body movements or grimaces and breathing disorders are added to speech, parents should definitely seek help. “Parents who are unsure whether their child’s speech problems are incipient stuttering symptoms are also welcome to come to us, of course,” emphasizes Professor Schade. With the help of appropriate therapy, these children learn how to better deal with stuttering in a playful manner.

Important: an open approach to stuttering, whereby negative feelings such as fear and shame should also be addressed. “Affected children should learn to deal with speech imprecision without fear. Good experiences in therapy, relaxed parents, less and less fear and more self-confidence then lead to more fluent speech,” explains speech therapist Hanna Engelmann.

For school children, not all parents know, stuttering means a disability in the legal sense. In concrete cases, this means a “disadvantage compensation”, for example, alternatives to oral exams – the Bundesvereinigung Stotterer-Selbsthilfe e.V. advises on corresponding problems at school.

Therapies for adults

It is different with adults, who usually have to continuously treat their stuttering throughout their lives. Basically, this is particularly important in the orientation about possible therapies, one distinguishes between two approaches: The so-called “Fluency Shaping”, in German “Formen des flüssigen Sprechens”. Here, special techniques are learned that change the speech itself by first strongly alienating it. The vowels, for example, are strongly stretched, breathing is controlled, and speech movements are performed without too much use of muscles. Gradually, speech becomes more natural again, but remains a very conscious because controlled process.

The second therapy is stuttering modification, also known as the non-avoidance approach or Van Riper therapy. Words at which stuttering begins are not avoided, but are pronounced in a conscious and controlled manner using speech techniques. This method requires that one’s own fears and negative expectations be reduced beforehand.

Both approaches are considered effective, only which is the right one must be determined by the therapist on an individual basis. It is interesting to note that stutterers speak much more fluently when they whisper, speak in time or in chorus, or when they sing. However, if communicative pressure arises, such as during telephone calls or job interviews, stuttering occurs more frequently. Hypnosis or psychotherapy are useful, if at all, only for short-term improvements and to accompany speech therapies.

Medications, usually for muscle relaxation, only work as long as they are taken and are not without side effects. Health insurance companies pay for such therapies, including those for children, of course. If they are serious, they should generally be designed for a longer period of time; they should also offer exercises outside the therapy room – on the street, in concrete situations. Aftercare and a relapse program are important – and they must not promise a cure, because there is no such thing. But a good therapy, designed for the long term, leads to a significant improvement, even to freedom from symptoms.