DESENSITIZATION THERAPY
Rationale: To desensitize the child to the fear and expectancy of the
stuttering moment. Appropriate desensitization procedures will also be
effective in reducing negative emotionality.
Activities/Techniques:
- During therapy activities, model easy stuttering behaviors. By
reacting to your dysfluencies without struggle and tension or
negative emotionality, the child learns a new way of reacting to
his/her own dysfluent speech.
- While employing an increased length and complexity of utterance
framework, encourage easy bouncing and stretching behaviors.
Teach the child he/she can stutter without struggle and tension.
- Structure therapy activities which provide the child with
opportunities to "catch" the clinician bounding. The clinician
reacts to being caught in a positive manner, which facilitates
increased acceptance of the stuttering, as well as providing an
easy model of dysfluent speech.
- Activity number three may be expanded to include the clinician
catching the child bounding, the child imitating the clinician's
bounce, or the child providing an "easier" way to say the
dysfluent word. By incorporating activity number three prior to
the above, the child reacts more positively to his "being caught."
The following is an example of the dialogue associated with these
activities:
Child: "I heard you bounce?"
Clinician: "Good! What word did I bounce on?"
Child: "Marshmallow"
Clinician: "Good! Can you show me how it sounded?"
Child: "M-m-marshmallow"
Clinician: "Good! Now show me an easy way to say that word."
Child: "Marshmallow" (The child produced the word with a stretch
on the first syllable).
- The clinician instructs the client to read or speak using easy
pseudo-stuttering. The client may be given general or specific
instructions as to what words or place of the sentence to
pseudostutter. The client learns an easier, unforced form of
stuttering while approaching his/her dysfluency.
- After the child experiences success with easy stuttering,
encourage him/her to use easy bouncing and stretching on real
stuttering. Variation, such as slowing down, easing out of, or
changing moments of real stuttering provides the child with
feelings of increased control over their speech. For example,
if the client is exhibiting silent laryngeal blocks with complete
cessation of airflow, suggest (or model) that the child tries to
"bounce out of the hard speech." Or, if the child exhibits
multiple-part word repetitions, slowing them down and stretching
them out may be particularly successful.
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