Prevent Stuttering

For teens who stutter, every scenario is not the same.  Some may need more help than others.  Whatever they need, it needs to focus on helping them improve on the communication skills. 

Therapy for teens will include them working to speak more fluently.  This would include having teens using techniques that would help them decrease their stuttering.  Some of these techniques are:

• Easy beginnings
• Easy starts
• Smooth speech
• Light contacts

These techniques are used to help teen become more fluent in their speech.  This is done by decreasing the physician tension in their speech muscles.

There is also a technique called slow speech that can be used.  However, they may not adapt to this one too much because they want their speech to sound natural.  Any technique that is used to assist teens in decreasing their speech disorder is welcomed, as long as it doesn’t sound abnormal. 

It must sound like their regular voice.  They will easily adapt and use it around other people.  This can also help them not to relapse if they go back to speaking where it feels more natural.  This would be so even if they ended up stuttering.

Other techniques for teens include reducing physical tension when they stutter and working to decrease the seriousness of the speech disorder.  The tension comes about when they tried to avoid stuttering by forcing their speech out. 

This isn’t a good idea because they end up stuttering more than they did before.  They continue to struggle with it and become frustrated.  For this, the teens would need to have therapy where they would be engaged in noticing the feeling of the tension as they speak.  Then they would release it before they continued to speak some more.  Some of these techniques include:

• Pulling or easing out of “blocks” of words
• “Cancellation” of stuttering moments
• Exercises for relaxing and to decrease physical tension while speaking

For teens that experience stuttering on a regular basis, they feel ashamed and embarrassed.  They want to belong, but feel they can’t because of their speech disorder.  When they do try speak, they may get nervous or anxiety may set in. 

Or they may try to avoid speaking altogether.  Not only do they end up being shunned and ostracized, but it becomes easier for them to withdraw from others. 

If a teen is having an extremely hard time in regard to their stuttering, they will need to have speech therapy to get a better understanding of their problems.  It can help them get to the root of the things that they consider to be pressing issues. 

It is not comfortable for them to continue to duck and dodge because of their stuttering.  They continue to struggle with their speaking and dealing with others talking about them. 

Within this therapy, they may have to incorporate “desensitization exercises”.  These are activities that can help teens realize that they do stutter.  When they come to that realization, they will realize that they can change their situation.  In addition to learning how to improve their speech, they will also learn how to lessen how they feel about stuttering.

When teens are being treated for stuttering, it may not be an easy road.  There are different things that have to be considered when providing treatment and therapy for them.  The purpose of teens having treatment and therapy for their stuttering is so they can freely speak and start to fit in with other teens.  Teens can be a very lively bunch and if they feel limited from speaking, it doesn’t help them at all. 

Teens will have to play an active role in their treatment and therapy.  Their parents will have to support them for working on this difficult task.  Once that has been established, they can more forward and learn to communicate better.