Ways to Stop Stuttering

Stuttering of children and adults has lately provoked especial worry.

Today the number of people who stutter is rapidly increasing, at least according to the statistics data.

Besides, stuttering appears more often in the developed countries.

How to get rid of stuttering?

This question was asked by every stuttering man at least once in a lifetime.

The article is going to show you the ways to stop stuttering.

A traditional way to stop stuttering

You must have noticed that while singing people do not have troubles with speech, and those, who are keen on singing, have a natural and free voice.

This way is based on using the breathing exercises and respiratory gymnastics.

These exercises are very similar to the morning gymnastics and are considered to be the most efficient way to fight stuttering, regardless of person’s age.

They have a favorable effect on the whole respiratory apparatus, teach the ways to breathe deeply, to draw in great lungsful of fresh air.

Respiratory gymnastics train human’s diaphragm, make it take an active part in phonation, due to which vocal cords become the most active.

The vocal cords are tightly closed during the conversation and make the speech smooth and rhythmical.

The first exercise is called Pump.

1. Stand up straight, in full-length.

2. Bend forward a bit and round your spine, drop your head and arms.

   During such exercise it’s extremely important your neck was relaxed to the limit.

3. Now you strongly bent to the floor, as if you pump up a tyre, simultaneously quickly and noisily inhaling the air through the nose.

4. While getting straight, you exhale freely, the way you want.

   Nevertheless, do not fully straighten the spine, only get back to the position number 2.

5. Now you bend again, inhaling quickly and noisily, and so on.

   It is a respiration exercise and you mustn’t strain any muscles.

   Do it easily, without loading the small of the back.

   Repeat the exercise 8 times.

6. Rest for a few seconds, re-establishing the usual breathing and repeat the exercise again 8 times.

It would be perfect to practice 8 inhales 12 times.

Nevertheless, you should not be in a hurry doing all of them in the first day.

Such loading can do harm to your general state.

It’s the reason why you’d better do it 6-8 times for the first few days, gradually increasing the number up to 12.

The second exercise is called Twist.

1. Stay straight, with your legs apart and arms on your waist.

   Stay in a comfortable position.

2. Now twist your head to the left and inhale quickly and noisily.

3. You need to exhale during the twist of the head to the other side.

   Exhale without a pause in the middle.

4. Having turned your head to the right, inhale again.
5. Repeat the training in the reverse order and do 8 inhales this way.

   It’ll be enough for a beginner.

   Eventually you’ll have to increase the number, repeating the action 32 times, i.e. 3 times of 8 inhales with the breaks for a couple of seconds.

You should do respiration gymnastics twice a day, every day before breakfast and after supper.

2-3 months later you will notice the first results, and with the lapse of time your breathing is sure to get free and the voice will become natural.

It should be noted that any exercises, which train the diaphragm, are rather useful for stuttering people.

Medicamentous way to stop stuttering

Speaking about ways of how to stop stuttering, one cannot fail to mention the medicamentous ways.

However, their implementation and usage are acceptable only in serious cases, when stuttering does not simply create discomfort during communication, but is very serious and in neglected condition or when there is a developed form of speech disturbance or even mental impairment.

Otherwise, medicamentous ways of treating stuttering are not desirable.

They have too many serious side effects and, as a rule, only short-term effect.

The essence of such way consists in taking anticonvulsant drugs and tranquilizers.

These medicines have a chain of negative peculiarities:

• they influence on the functions of the whole organism;
• inhibit psychic;
• disturb the concentration of attention;
• influence the metabolism;
• people, who take tranquilizers and anticonvulsant drugs put on weight very quickly;
• very often the ill people are sleepiness, headaches, sickness, irritability, allergic reactions and other side effects, which multiply by the long-term usage of the medicines.

These drugs must not be taken by the drivers of vehicles, people, who work on the difficult manufacturing and of other professions connected to the need of elevated concentration of attention.

Read also: How to improve memory: 18 tips

Moreover, no one can take them for a long period of time, and the effect is usually preserved only during the intake.

After you stop taking medicine, stuttering comes back.

Still, if there is a need in the adjunct, you’d better take the sedative infusion and herbal potions, but you should not get obsessed about them either.

Alternative ways to stop stuttering

Such way to stop stuttering includes nerve-point massage and hypnosis.

Nerve-point massage is meant to be executed for a long period of time and repeated in several courses.

Every program consists of 15 treatments.

Between the first and the second course one should do a break for two weeks.

Between the third and the fourth courses – the break is 6 months.

Then, one should repeat the courses every two or three years.

In case stuttering began again, the course must be repeated earlier.

Speaking about hypnosis, it is considered to be a dangerous way, that’s why it is rarely used.

Logopedist’s help as a way to stop stuttering

1. Do not be afraid to turn to the speech therapist for help, if the situation does not get better.

   In most cases stuttering happens on its own, especially in the young age.

   Logopedist’s help is advised in the definite situations, especially if the stuttering person falls in depression because of it or considers it a serious obstacle in life.

2. A speech therapist can help in some cases.

   In some definite cases the logopedist’s intervention can bring benefit, but not in all cases.

   A speech therapist can help a child, if:

   • stuttering continues for more than 6 months;
   • the inability to continue the conversation can last more than a few seconds;
   • the family faced stuttering problems before;
   • a child feels serious emotional pressure because of stuttering.

3. You must understand what logopedists can do, and what they are unable to do.

   Usually speech therapists have several treatment lessons with patients, in order to decrease the influence of stuttering during communication, but not to get rid of it permanently.

   Later, patients use the skills they’ve learned in everyday situations.

   A logopedist might need to talk to parents, teachers and sometimes even friends of the patient in order to better understand the way of implementation of the treatment techniques and understand what a patient actually wants.

   Moreover, it is needed, so that the patients got help and support outside the therapy as well.

4. Besides, a speech therapist may advise you to enter the self-help group.

   There are hundreds of such groups all around the world.

   After the consultation with a patient a logopedist may find it reasonable to send a patient to one of such groups, where he would be asked not so much to follow treating techniques, but to wish to communicate and help people alike in non-aggressive environment.

How to Overcome Shyness?

Steps to stop stuttering

1. Take into account that though a person can get rid of stuttering, it won’t happen at once.

   As soon as you acknowledge it, you’ll be able to start studying on your own, which will probably help you overcome stuttering.

   If you do not accept it, you’ll be quickly disappointed by the slow progress and will worry even more.

   This feeling is sure to work against your attempts to overcome stuttering, because anxiety and disappointment will make you stutter even more.

2. You must see the words in your mind and practice pronouncing them to yourself before saying them aloud.

   Distinctly pronounce the words by syllables, so that they were more accustomed to them.

   Doing this, you’ll learn the words on your own and stop feeling anxious, which usually happens before saying the word in the conversation.

3. Try to speak a bit slower.

   If you try to speak fluently and you are still stuttering, your speech will turn out to be even slower than it could be if you consciously made it slower.

   Due to the attempts to speak fluently, you start worrying, and it brakes the speech and you stutter again.

   So, practice speaking slower.

   Let it become your habit of communicating, but not just a temporary attempt.

4. Read aloud more often and it will help you to overcome stuttering.

   When you are reading, you do not think what you are trying to say and just pronounce it.

   This is the thing, which does not trigger anxiety.

   Reading eliminates the necessity to think about words.

   When you read them from the page, it makes you less nervous.

5. Admit that correct breathing may help you stop stuttering.

   Very often a person, who is stuttering, makes everything still worse by improper breathing.

   He is breathing, when it is unnecessary and visa verse.

   Correct breathing will calm down the nerves and lessen the anxiety.

   It will definitely be good to those, who often stutter.

6. Practice pronouncing difficult words, when you are alone.

   If there are words, saying which you usually face hardships during the conversation, you should practice pronouncing them at home, when you are alone.

   At first, imagine the word and then the way you are going to pronounce it.

   Practice saying this word, so that you could hear the way it sounds.

   Pronounce it by syllables, saying each one separately, until you feel confident.

   Finally, practice saying the whole word.

   The idea is in getting used to speaking without worry.

   When you know the word well, you won’t get worried, when you use it in the conversation and, consequently, you won’t stutter.

One thing is clear – stuttering must be cured and no one except a sick person is able to do it better.

That’s why there are plenty of science works, methods and ways to stop stuttering.

We provided you with the main and the most efficient ways to stop stuttering.

All you are left to do is to act!