Stuttering: Treatment

Researchers don't understand what causes stuttering. However, progress has been made into what contributes to the development of the disability and, therefore, in some cases it can be prevented in childhood with the help of therapy early on. Therapy can help people of all ages suffering from the speech disability. While not an overnight cure, therapy can offer positive results and more fluent speech patterns. The goals of therapy are to reduce stuttering frequency, decrease the tension and struggle of stuttering, become educated about stuttering, and learn to use effective communications skills, such as making eye contact, to further enhance speech. The therapy focuses on helping stutterers to discover easier and different ways of producing sounds and expressing thoughts. The success of therapy depends largely on the stutterer's willingness to work at getting better.

The duration of stuttering therapy needed varies among stutterers. Sometimes, it helps stutterers if they have therapy intermittently throughout their lives.

Parents, teachers and others can do things to help ease stuttering. These include: talking slowly, but normally, clearly, and in a relaxed manner to a stutterer; answering questions after a pause to encourage a relaxed transaction; trying not to make stuttering worse by getting annoyed by a person's stuttering; giving stutterers reassurance about their stuttering; and encouraging the stutterer to talk about his or her stuttering.

Electronic fluency aids help some stutterers when used as an adjunct to therapy. Medications, such as antipsychotics and neuroleptics, have been used to treat stuttering with limited success.

— Lisette Hilton