Stuttering is one of the most common speech problems affecting an estimated 70 million people globally. Three million of those live in the United States. It can be caused by a traumatic experience, by development issues, and sometimes it runs in families. If you have a child that suffers from this problem, do you know how to go about getting help to stop stuttering?
Stuttering can lower self-esteem and turn people into recluses, but it can be helped and life improved for those that have this problem. Ignoring it is not the answer; it will not usually go away on its own, as was thought for many years. Professional help from a speech pathologist is often required.
Talk To A Speech Therapist
The problem of stuttering can be apparent in children as young as two, and the earlier they have help to overcome it, the better. This speaking disorder is when the sufferer has trouble completing words or sentences without repeating whole or parts of words. It is often worse when they get stressed over it. A speech therapist can help the patient to cope and come to terms with the problem and provide methods of reducing the amount of stuttering, or other speech impairment. You can find out more by visiting the Stuttering Doctor website
Encouraging the sufferer to relax and speak slowly will help to ease the problem, and the less stressed over it they are, the less it will occur.
Do Speech Exercises
A speech therapist will probably explain how some exercises can help, and their advice should be listened to and the exercises tried. None of them are difficult. Typical exercises include:
- Vocal cord exercises, including discovering the vocal chords
- Exercises for relaxing the stutter
- How to use your ‘easy voice’
A speech therapist will be able to design a treatment plan to suit the sufferer’s specific needs and will be there to offer help and guidance all the way through.
Of course, every sufferer is different and the reasons for the stutter can vary, which is why you should seek the help of a qualified speech therapist. They will have trained for several years and have to be licensed in whichever state they are working in.
They Are Not The Only One
As with many afflictions, it can help the sufferer to realize they are not the only person suffering from stuttering. There have been some really famous people who stuttered when they were younger but who managed to overcome it to a large extent. This list includes Julia Roberts, Tiger Woods. Bruce Willis, Kylie Minogue, Elvis Presley, James Stewart, Hugh Grant, Isaac Newton, and Rowan Atkinson. When you look at how many of them went on to make their living in the world of entertainment, it shows that this speech impediment can be overcome, or at the very least, controlled.
There is no need for a stutterer to go through their whole life with this problem. There are ways and means to reduce it and the effects it has on their life, as long as the right help is sought.
