Can Stuttering Therapies Work Effectively?

Approximately 1 in 40 young children now stutter and, at some point in their lives, 1 in 20 young children will stutter. Childhood stuttering is rather common in kids under age 5, who are just learning their language skills. Adult stuttering commonly occurs as a result of trauma like a car accident or a stroke. Some people may only repeat words, syllables or phrases when tired, stressed or emotionally upset, and some people naturally overcome speech disfluency without going through any kind of therapy program. There are many different stuttering therapies to choose from, although there is really no miraculous cure.

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.

Fluency shaping is one of the common stuttering therapies used today. This therapy attempts to change all speech of the person who is afflicted, rather than singling out specific trouble spots. The individual is prompted to monitor his or her speech, slowing down and smoothing out all words. The goal is to gain fluency by placing the emphasis on fluency, rather than the stuttering. This approach is best used on young children under the age of 8 who are also undergoing other techniques, such as the use of delayed auditory feedback devices.

Recurrence is possible for any of the aforementioned stuttering therapies. Overcoming stuttering in childhood is generally much easier than working through the disorder as an adult, however. It seems many of the slip-ups occur when stutterers become tired of putting so much effort into speaking. Some clients may feel “cured” while going through treatment, only to find that stuttering and micro-stutters return once the learned exercises stop being employed. Researchers have also found a return to stuttering when an emotional event takes place or when a difficult situation, such as a public speaking engagement is presented. In the most severe stuttering cases, stuttering medication drugs may be prescribed that block dopamine or boost the GABA neuro-chemical, which for unknown reasons seems to have an impact on an individual’s propensity to stutter over words, sounds and sentences.

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