Stuttering Therapy - Approaches

Approaches

There are many different approaches to stuttering therapy. While some believe that there is no cure for the condition, stuttering can be reduced and even eliminated with appropriate timely intervention, and various therapy methods have reduced stuttering in individuals to some degree. In any case, for all persons who stutter, the successfulness of speech therapy depends on the combination of education, training, and individualized treatment provided.

For a child that stutters, the focus of treatment to prevent the worsening of the condition, and families play an important role in the process. Successful elimination of mild stuttering is likely when treatment is initiated before four years of age. For those who have more advanced forms of stuttering and secondary behaviors, therapy is generally a variation or combination of two approaches: a fluency-shaping technique that replaces stuttering with controlled fluency, and stuttering modification therapy, which focuses on reducing the severity of stuttering.