Stuttering is not a threatening condition, and there are plenty of people who are affected by this speech disorder that it’s about time that many more try to understand what it’s like to have it. While it doesn’t necessarily have painful side effects, it does make anyone affected feel frustrated, hesitant, and afraid whenever they have to speak.
The good thing though is that there are many different ways to treat stuttering. From working with a speech therapist to constant self-practice, anyone affected by stuttering can choose between a variety of different treatments to help them be more comfortable and eventually confident to speak.
So if you want to know how to stop stuttering, here are different methods you can consider.
- Slow Down
People diagnosed with stuttering often feel the pressure to speak, even without the actual people or situations to pressure them. The important thing is to slow down and focus on maintaining a slower speech rate so one can deliver a complete sentence or idea.
- Focus On Breathing
Breathing therapy, whether during a stressful situation or not, helps people who suffer from stuttering to calm their nerves. Since anxiety can intensify one’s stuttering, it’s important to keep calm and relax the nerves. Doing mindful breathing will reduce blood pressure and increase the oxygen flow throughout the entire body and eventually reduce the person’s anxiety.
- Avoid Trigger Words
In some cases of stuttering, certain words trigger the speech disorder. The best way to go about this is to take note of the words, or sometimes syllables, that trigger the stuttering and study how you can avoid them. Practicing these trigger words can also help reduce the possibility of stuttering when the time comes. You can consult with a stuttering specialist to learn more about how to do this.
- Find The Rhythm
Sometimes, coming up with a rhythm when speaking also helps a person to have more control of their speech. The fluidity that comes with a sung language helps improve speech fluency because of the control that singing or the rhythm offers.
- Move Your Body To Calm Nerves
As previously mentioned, a lot of the symptoms that prompt stuttering is all because of the nerves. For some people, stuttering comes out when they are nervous or anxious when speaking in front of many people. For a presenter with stuttering tendencies, using smooth and controlled body movements allow the nerves to calm down and finally be able to speak without any problems.
- Speech Therapy
For a more permanent solution to stuttering, seeing a speech therapist is one of the best ways for both children and adults. It is especially recommended for adults with stuttering issues since this is no longer developmental. During a therapy session, the speech therapist will asses the severity of the stutter and proceed to tailor each session to suit the individual. Speech therapy also involves plenty of practice exercises for the patient to reduce anxiety and overcome the disorder.
- Electronic Devices
When speech therapies and practice don’t work, technology saves the day. A device such as a speech monitor helps to alter the sound frequencies of the person to help regulate their speech. However, this solution can be expensive, and there have been no guarantees of its permanent benefits.
Final Word
Learning to cope with stuttering can be difficult, especially at first. Nevertheless, there are now plenty of solutions to this speech disorder for people to choose from and overcome it.
