MODIFICATION OF THE STUTTERING MOMENT

Rationale: To teach the child to stutter easily and without struggling.

Activities/Techniques:

1. Model for the child an easier form of stuttering. Teach him/her that by reacting to the stuttering moment with struggle and tension, the stuttering becomes harder. The clinician should contrast the hard stuttering with the easy stuttering, and then ask the child to imitate the production.

2. Drill activities (single word to reading level) are helpful in massing practice of pull-outs. Model for the child examples of appropriate pull-outs prior to and during each exercise.

3. During conversational or more unstructured activities, identify instances of hard stuttering for the child and model an easier way of saying the word. The child is then asked to imitate the easier, modified form.

4. Cancellations are another method of modification therapy. The child is asked to pause following a moment of stuttering and then say the word again in an easier way. The cancellation allows the frustration and pain of stuttering to be "erased."

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