Want to know how to stop your stuttering? Maybe you are even constantly searching for exercises to treat stuttering in adults.
Well, look no further, because this guide is your new best friend, and it’ll answer all your questions, and more, and will show you how to do breathing exercises for stuttering as well!
Now, the focus of this blog is stuttering exercises for adults, but everyone is welcome to partake in it!
What is stuttering in adults?
Before we answer that, first we need to answer the burning question that is, what is stuttering? Stuttering is the involuntary blockage in speech, wherein you might repeat some words or even use fillers such as uh, and others. Stuttering is found primarily in minors, specifically in pre-pubescent ones, however, it is possible to develop or continue to have a stutter as an adult, which is nothing to be ashamed of. They are caused by a multitude of reasons, which are listed in another blog of ours, so be sure to check it out! Now, let's see how to stop your stuttering or even some exercises for stuttering in adults.
How to stop stuttering and what are some stuttering exercises for adults?
There are many ways to stop stuttering, and there are many stuttering exercises for adults, such as diaphragmatic breathing for stuttering, the pausing technique for stuttering, and the light articulatory contact in stuttering. Besides this, there are other exercises as well, such as progressi erevlaxation, speaking while inhaling, prolonged speech, pullouts, mindfulness, meditation, yoga, journaling your achievements, challenging yourself, etc. All of these are stuttering exercises for adults that professional speech therapists use. In this blog, however, we will be focusing mostly on the first three speech techniques used, i.e., diaphragmatic breathing, the pausing technique, and light articulatory contact in stuttering. Let us now get to the crux of the matter, i.e., what these are and how a speech therapist teaches them.
1. Diaphragmatic breathing
Most people who stutter are not able to control their breathing well. They either take inadequate breaths, breath in gulps, or force the last air left in their lungs. So it's important to practice the correct form of breathing to avoid those prolongations and blocks. It also helps in learning how to control your breathing patterns. Typically, it is practiced with the patient lying flat on their back, to ensure maximum relaxation, as well as to make sure that they can feel the air in their stomach. Their shoulders and chest must remain still. We focus our attention on the diaphragm and we breathe easily without clenching any muscles.
2. Pausing
The pausing technique for stuttering helps in lengthening your natural phrases and pauses and is a fluency-shaping technique. It can help decrease muscle tension and how fast or slow you speak. The client is advised to take short-quick breaths when they pause. It is recommended to take frequent small pauses. It is typically used by making the patient read out loud.
3. Light articulation contact
Light articulatory contact in stuttering refers to the absolute minimum contact between the lips, teeth, and tongue. It teaches people with a stutter to use light mouth movements to prevent stuttering. It can rarely be learned outside of a speech therapist’s clinic and is used to teach clients how to enunciate and pronounce each syllable individually until they can master it without stuttering. Once the technique is learned, it is easy to practice it at home with friends and family.
4. Progressive muscle relaxation:
Progressive relaxation is the process that is commonly used by speech therapists to relax your muscles and help you articulate better. It's something that can easily be practiced at home without necessarily needing a speech therapist, however, it's recommended to ask one for help. The goal is to relax your speech muscles, thus making it easy to enunciate your words.
5. Speaking while exhaling:
It is a method used to shape your articulation and fluency, and is something that you don't necessarily need a speech therapist for, but is recommended to have one for. It's easy to practice and can be done by anyone of any age. It's a highly recommended method due to it's ease.
6. Prolonged speech:
Very often seen in the clinics of speech therapists, it's impossible to master this technique without them. It is a combination of the Light Articulation Method and Pausing. It can enhance your fluency, slow down your rate of speech, and give you a sense of control while speaking. Speech therapists from clinics like Sounderics are necessary for the beginning stages, after which it can be practiced at home.
7. Pull outs:
Another method that requires a speech therapist, is easy to do once you've gotten the hang of it. The therapist starts by helping you elongate the sounds you typically get stuck on, to ensure that your vocal cords get more used to it, before proceeding to help you blend them in with the next sound. Once you've learned it, it's easy to practice on your own.
8. Meditation:
Another great way of ensuring that you're able to grow your fluency, this is something that can be practiced at home with ease. It can help relax the muscles that tense up while speaking, particularly the ones that are causing your stuttering, and can help ensure that you are able to articulate what you want to say the right way.
9. Yoga:
Helping in easing your muscles, this method serves the same purpose as meditation, that is, to ease your muscles and help them feel more relaxed. It can also help you regain a sense of control over your own mind and body.
10. Journalling:
This can help you feel much better about how far you've gotten since the beginning and can help restore the sense of pride that one often loses with stuttering. It can also help calm your mind down and seeing the words on the page may even help you articulate what you want to say in a much clearer manner.
11. Challenging yourself:
Challenging yourself to do new things might seem like a scary investment in yourself, but it will help you get control over your stutter, and will also help you get out of your comfort zone a bit more. There's nothing harmful with trying new things, especially ones that will only help you and make you grow as a person. Aside from that, you can challenge yourself to new words, which will help you enunciate words more clearly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can state that there are many different ways in which a speech therapist helps their clients learn how to enunciate and perfect their speech, thereby getting rid of their stutter. However, this does not mean that you can learn these techniques on your own without one, since it may damage or worsen your speech and your stutter. Thus, you should always consult a speech therapist before you try to practice these kinds of techniques.
Learn more about Online speech therapy for stuttering.
Sounderic provides online speech therapy sessions for adults with various communication disorders. We would love to help you. Get in touch with us on WhatsApp at +919644466635 or schedule a consultation with us at https://www.sounderic.com/service-page/stuttering-and-fluency-disorder?referral=service_list_widget\
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