No more bumbling with stuttering

Stuttering is a disturbance in the rhythm of speech. It has everything to do with timing. Timing in this case means that a muscle makes the right movement, with the right force, at the right time. People who stutter have more trouble matching these movements precisely. Sometimes muscles react too late and sometimes too early.

Breathing
Because of this, the timing is wrong and the person starts to stutter. Stress can exacerbate these wrong movements. A person who stutters sometimes also makes other movements, for example with his arms or eyes. Furthermore, stuttering is also related to breathing, especially exhalation. With a ‘stutter’, the breath becomes tense or blocked.

What Causes Stuttering?
Predisposition is very important with stuttering: if you don’t have a predisposition for it, stuttering cannot arise. If you do have an aptitude, it is not always the case that you will actually stutter. This depends on the development in speech and language, but also on your environment. If many stressful things happen in your life, there is a greater chance that you will actually stutter.
What can be done?
There are many different therapies and aids against stuttering in the Netherlands. However, there is no standard therapy to solve stuttering. It depends on the stutterer which therapy will work best.

Some ways to get rid of stuttering:
• You can go to a speech therapist or stuttering therapist. He can teach you techniques to remedy the stuttering.
• The BOMA method of the De Pauw Institute. This group therapy pays attention to the speaking technique as well as to the feeling of the stutterer.
• Relaxation exercises, release techniques and flank breathing can provide support in learning good speaking techniques.
• A self-help group, in the Netherlands there are a number of these. These groups are organized by the Dutch stuttering association Demosthenes. This association regularly organizes evenings in the country for stutterers and those who are interested. The purpose of self-help groups is to maintain skills learned in therapy. Sharing experiences is also important in a self-help group.
• The Hausdörfer method is a group therapy consisting of a maximum of six adults. You can find your inner peace by means of a slow, exaggerated intonation in which sound control with the aid of hearing is central.
• With the Del Ferro Method you train the diaphragm muscle so that your speech becomes fluent. The goal is to build self-confidence and banish fear.
SpeechEasy
A device that helps to reduce stuttering is the SpeechEasy. You wear it like a hearing aid and can use it daily. You will hear your words digitally back with a small delay and adjusted frequency. SpeechEasy is based on the ‘echo effect.’

Due to this effect, people who speak or sing in a group stutter significantly less. The device generates the ‘echo effect’ because the brain thinks that you are talking with another person at the same time. Stuttering clearly diminishes or even disappears. At Eyes and More you can make an appointment to try out the SpeechEasy.

Listening to a stutterer
Interlocutors of stutterers can also have a hard time. How should you react if someone suddenly starts to stutter? It is best to treat someone ‘normally’. So do not stare at a stutterer extensively or speak louder and clearer. Most stutterers don’t like it when you supplement them, but some do. When in doubt, you can of course just ask the person!

Numbers
In the Netherlands there are about 200,000 stutterers, which is about 1 percent of the Dutch population. The percentage is somewhat higher among children: about 4 percent stutter. However, many children grow out of it. There are more male than female stutterers. This is due to the faster maturation of language and motor skills in girls. Also, the chance of inheritance is higher in boys.