Component 7

COMPONENT 7. MODIFICATION OF THE STUTTERING MOMENT

Rationale:

To teach the child to stutter easily and without struggling.

Research:

Conture (1990) -has observed that stuttering patterns will begin to "change as children become more and more objectively aware of where and when in the speech utterance they begin to stutter" (pg.174). "Changing rather than pushing or pulling on speech postures" only causes them to hesitate and stutter even harder.

Dell (1979) - advocated teaching the child there are three ways of saying a word; the fluent way, the hard stuttering way and the easy stuttered way.

Guitar and Peters (1991) - "the first aim of stuttering modification treatment for the elementary school-aged stutterer is to help him reduce the abnormality of his stuttering."

Van Riper (1973) - advocated immediate attempts to get the child to substitute a new pattern of easy stuttering for the old one of struggle.

Activities/Techniques:

1. Model for the child an easier form of stuttering. Teach him/her that by reacting to the stuttering moment with struggle and tension, the stuttering becomes harder. The clinician should contrast the hard stuttering with the easy stuttering, and then ask the child to imitate the production.
2. Drill activities (single word to reading level) are helpful in massing practice of pull-outs. Model for the child examples of appropriate pull-outs prior to and during each exercise.
3. Carl Dell's approach discussed previously is an excellent way of teaching the child how to change their speech from hard stuttering to easy stuttering. Playing games in which the child classifies the clinician's production (hard, easy, or regular) and vice-a- versa, provided the child with examples of different speech patterns and empowers him to make "choices" regarding his stuttering.
4. During conversational or more unstructured activities, identify instances of hard stuttering for the child and model an easier way of saying the word. The child is then asked to imitate the easier, modified form. One way of demonstrating this is by having the clinician clench his/her fist at the onset of a moment of stuttering, holding onto the moment, reducing its strength, and slowly open the fist as the stuttering moment is released. Then the client and clinician demonstrate this behavior together, talking about "getting stuck and getting unstuck." Gradually, the client cues himself during a moment of stuttering and slowly releases himself from that moment.
5. Cancellations are another method of modification therapy. The child is asked to pause following a moment of stuttering and then say the word again in an easier way. The cancellation allows the frustration and pain of stuttering to be "erased."