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Stuttering Therapy Approach
Memphis Speech Solutions strives to provide clients with comprehensive, success-based stuttering therapy based on the latest advancements in fluency research. Therapy approaches for treating stuttering in school-aged children, adolescents, and adults generally fall into two categories: stuttering modification (stutter-more-fluently) or fluency shaping (speak-more-fluently). We integrate these two popular approaches to help the client make lasting changes in his/her speech. Fluency Shaping
Fluency shaping therapy focuses on changing all speech of the person who stutters, not just the moments of stuttering. This type of therapy has a more global approach because it teaches the person to slow down and smooth out all of their words. Proponents of fluency shaping therapies believe that the outcome of therapy depends directly on the focus of therapy: if clinician and client focus on changing stuttering, they'll get stuttering; if they focus on changing fluency, they'll get fluency. As a rule the fluency shaping therapies do not address attitudes, feelings, and self-concept issues under the assumption that, since these components are directly related to the stuttering, eliminating the stuttering will eliminate these negative emotions.
Stuttering Modification
Stuttering modification therapy focuses on changing individual moments of stuttering to make them smoother, shorter, less tense and hard, and less penalizing. Stuttering modification approaches do not strive to make the person who stutters fluent but rather, to stutter with control. Stuttering modification therapies tend to recognize the fear and avoidance that builds up surrounding the stuttering and consequently spend a great deal of time helping people who stutter to work through those emotions.
The Best of Both Worlds
Memphis Speech Solutions successfully combines elements of stuttering modification and fluency shaping therapy. Therapy usually begins by teaching the person who stutters fluency shaping strategies to slow down and smooth out all of their speech. This eliminates most of the overt stuttering behavior. For the moments of stuttering that remain, the individual learns to manage them with stuttering modification strategies. In addition, the stuttering modification phases of motivation, identification, and desensitization are incorporated into therapy to help the individual manage the negative emotions that have built up around the stuttering.
Original author: Melissa Jorgenson
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