Coping with Depression and Anxiety

When it comes to stuttering therapies, the real question of how “success” is defined remains. A person seeking help for a stuttering problem might feel that going from stuttering in every sentence down to only stuttering in every ten sentences is a marked improvement. Yet, critics might argue that any stutter is still a problem and not a cause for celebration. A third school of thought suggests that success has been achieved when the speech stuttering therapy enables a person to have renewed self-esteem, pursue his or her goals and enjoy a greater satisfaction in life.

With regard to children, it was discovered that a computer-based anti-stuttering program with minimal interaction from speech-language pathologists held the most promise for keeping disfluency rates below 2%. In the 1996 “Controlled Clinical Trial for Stuttering in Persons Aged 9 to 14 Years,” researchers found that 71% of the children treated with computer programs and minimal speech pathologist interaction became fluent, compared to 63% of the children whose parents were trained by a speech pathologist to complete therapy at home, and 48% of children treated by the actual pathologist him/herself. These findings shed light on the important role of family when it comes to language skills.

It is important to note that all stuttering therapies are not created equal. There are over 100,000 so-called “speech-language pathologists” in America, yet fewer than 500 are actually certified fluency specialists. There is a growing sub-set of stuttering program peddlers who promise speech improvement through hypnosis, herbal supplements, motivational tapes and more. For stuttering in children, the most effective method — according to studies — is, in fact, one of these self-help methods involving at home computer programs that are studied with loving, supportive parents.

Experts say self-therapy is important for any of the stuttering therapies. In his book “Self-Therapy for the Stutterer,” Stuttering Foundation of America originator Malcolm Fraser said that those who stutter should make a habit of talking slow and deliberately; speaking easily, gently and without force; and taking advantage of block correction procedures. A stutterer should approach the issue directly, rather than try to hide the truth, and should focus on eliminating facial contortions, jaw tensing, rapid blinking and other reactions. The best approach is to practice speaking with varying inflections and melody and to continue moving forward with speech, rather than back-tracking or repeating.

Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed anxiety or panic attacks as well as tips on the various medications for panic disorder available at anxietydisordercure.com.