Types of exercises
The exercises should be regular and systematic. For a small child you need to find a special approach: the more exciting it is, the faster the child will learn the task.
To maintain interest - do not allow monotony, try to change the game after several times of use. After some time, the task can be repeated.
All exercises for stuttering develop the following systems:
- respiratory;
- voice;
- muscular;
- articulatory.
They are also aimed at developing a sense of rhythm in children and adults.
In parallel with the exercises, a person who stutters should recite affirmations - they will give a feeling of confidence to both adults and children.
List of affirmations used for stuttering.
- I can speak beautifully and clearly.
- I have a wonderful voice that others like.
- Every day my speech becomes clearer and louder.
- Optimism helps you cope with problems and gives you a feeling of happiness.
Reflected speech technique
Reflected speech is the repetition of words and sentences after an adult . The use of this technique is necessary for teaching people who stutter to plan the utterance of a phrase.
Used in case of difficulties in pronouncing sentences. Corrects stops and hesitations in speech.
The exercises begin with pronouncing one word, making the tasks more difficult with each lesson. Sentences, answers to questions, and poems are gradually introduced. The cycle of classes ends with a retelling of the text read by the speech therapist.
Ways to get rid of illness for children
To avoid the formation of logoneurosis in a child, parents must follow the rules of upbringing and daily routine.
- Having identified problems with speech, you should seek help from a speech therapist and psychologist. Doctors will help you cope with nervous tension and correct defects thanks to a variety of ways to produce sounds.
- By teaching your children to eat properly, you will provide your little body with vitamins and energy for rapid development.
- By observing a sleep schedule (from 2 to 6 years old, 2–3 hours during the day, about 10 hours at night, over 7–8 hours at night and preferably 1 hour during the day), you will help your child cope with stress.
- By protecting your child from stress, not swearing in the presence of the child, and not using corporal punishment, you will create conditions for harmonious development.
Anti-stuttering techniques
Using logorhythmics for correction is a great way to get rid of stuttering. The exercises can be done independently or with a trainer. When correcting speech defects, developing logical thinking and physical fitness, they will help you quickly get in shape.
Breathing exercises
Articulatory gymnastics for stuttering is used to improve the general condition of the body and highly concentrate on pronunciation.
- Feet should be shoulder-width apart, back straight, arms should be bent at the elbows and pressed tightly to the sides, palms should be turned toward the floor. Take a deep breath, clench your palms into fists, exhale briefly, unclenching your hands. You need to repeat the exercise at least 5 times, pausing for a few seconds.
- Keep your back straight, legs together. Hands at your sides, clench your hands into fists and press them to your waist. As you inhale, lower your arms down towards the floor. When performing the exercise, tense your shoulder part. Repeat 10 times.
- Feet shoulder-width apart, take a deep breath and lean forward, try to reach the floor, your back should not be straight, but slightly rounded. Repeat 10 times.
- Stretch your arms forward and begin to slowly squat, turning your body to the side. Inhale as you squat, and as you exhale return to the starting position. 8 approaches in each direction.
- Hands at your sides, feet shoulder-width apart, body relaxed. As you inhale, hug yourself by the shoulders, slightly throwing your head back, and as you exhale, return to the starting position. Repeat 20 times. Pay attention to your health: if you are prone to fainting, do the exercise without tilting your head.
- Place your legs at a comfortable distance and bend down as you inhale, rise as you exhale. Then inhale and tilt the body back, exhale - starting position.
- As you inhale, stand up straight and relax, lower your head to your shoulder, while exhaling, take the starting position, repeat 10 times in each direction. The exercise should be done quickly.
Breathing exercises for stuttering help improve the flow of oxygen to nerve endings and trigger brain activity.
Working on breathing will improve the quality of diction and strengthen the muscles of the diaphragm.
Rehearsals in front of the mirror
A technique that all actors and announcers use is speaking the text while looking in the mirror. Thanks to frequent study of poetry, tongue twisters and other material, a person remembers how to pronounce words correctly.
Voice and speech tricks are worked out near the mirror with changes in intonation and timbre of the voice. A person can recite a poem in a bass voice and then in a squeaky voice, thereby forcing various muscles to work.
Meditations
Meditation will help you stay calm by entering a state of light trance. This should be done in a calm, quiet environment, separating yourself from all problems. Relaxation in meditative practices is the main condition for the effectiveness of the procedure. Abstracting from problems, a person immerses himself in his own world, where he is healthy and is not interested in speech defects.
Meditation will teach a person to breathe correctly and use his voice. To immerse yourself in a state of light trance, you need:
- Turn on calm music.
- Light the aroma lamp.
- Essential oils
Stuttering, as a consequence of neurosis, can be weakened with the help of aromatic oils, which have a calming effect. Lavender, tea tree, thyme will help you relax and free your thoughts from negativity.
When taking a bath, you should add 4 drops of lavender to promote sleep and calm a person before an important event. Rubbing into the skin is also effective. You need to take a couple of drops of tea tree oil and rub it on your wrists and the hollow of your neck.
Silence
Maintain silence when stuttering, this will help relieve stress on the vocal cords and relieve muscle spasms. During the day, use it to relax.
Children can be offered a game during which they need to remain silent. For example, depict a sea animal.
Massage
The exercise therapy complex will help get rid of muscle tone and spasms. Massage of the cervical collar area is used.
You can use self-massage in the throat area. To do this, carry out stroking movements, rising from the base of the neck to the chin.
Alternative Exercises
Breathing exercises:
- Sit comfortably and tilt your head forward, take a deep breath, hold the position for 5 seconds, exhale - starting position. Repeat 20 times.
- Make circular rotations with your head to the left and right side 10 times, 2 approaches.
- Sit comfortably and relax, raise your arms up for a deep breath, feel how the air fills your lungs, exhale - lower them, repeat 20 times.
Poetry
Reciting poetry develops a sense of rhythm, makes speech more expressive, and strengthens memory . In addition, the poems of the classics improve aesthetic development and enrich vocabulary. When choosing poems, they usually focus on the age of the stutterer.
Young children are offered simple poems, such as nursery rhymes. Children enjoy participating in mini-performances based on the plot of the poem they have learned.
Preschoolers and schoolchildren are offered poems written at different tempos for recitation . More melodic and smooth ones are suitable for starting training. In the future, you can use more complex poetic forms.
Voice gymnastics
The technique of proper breathing is an excellent way not only to get rid of the problem of stuttering, but also to speed up the process of speech development in children. The most popular is Strelnikova’s exercise.
The essence of the technique is quite simple and consists of 3 postulates.
- When compressing the chest, inhalations through the nose should be short but sharp.
- Exercises according to the method involve all parts of the body.
- Increased breathing of internal tissues indicates increased absorption of oxygen by the body.
Each manipulation is aimed at relaxing the muscles of the larynx and controlling breathing, which contributes to the development and improvement of speech abilities.
Effective breathing exercises for children’s speech development consists of 4 steps.
- Place your baby on his back and place a small pillow or soft toy on his tummy. Tell your baby that when you inhale, the stomach should be inflated and the object will rise upward. Then exhale smoothly, making the sound “pfft”. Breathing exercises for stuttering are performed for 2-3 minutes, 5 to 10 times a day. During the session you should breathe evenly and calmly.
- Make cotton balls and place them on a flat surface. Show your child how to use air to move them. In the future, complicate the task by replacing the smooth surface with a rough one. For example, place the ball on a terry towel. In the process, the child will develop an interest in sports, and he will begin to blow out cotton balls longer, capturing more air.
- Blowing soap bubbles, the child will have fun, developing the muscle of the speech apparatus.
- Set up a Jacuzzi in a cup using a straw to play with. Having lowered it, invite the child to blow so that the water begins to bubble. During this time, you need to remain silent so that the liquid does not get into your mouth.
Techniques transformed into games by the tricks of adults will bring a lot of delight and pleasure to both adults and children. And the exercises performed will improve the fluency of speech due to proper breathing during the pronunciation of sounds.
Another effective technique is articulatory gymnastics. Options for training oral muscles:
- After inhaling, we inflate our cheeks, and when we exhale, we release the air. This should be repeated several times, alternately inflating each cheek separately.
- We make a “fish” by slapping our lips against each other.
- Press the tongue one at a time on the inside of the cheeks.
- We take a breath and close our mouth. Then we press our fingers (or fists) on our cheeks, creating sounds as we exhale.
- We run our tongue over our teeth, as if we were brushing them with a toothbrush.
- We bite the lower and upper lips in turn.
Alternatively, ask your child to yawn or cough with their mouth open. Do not forget to be systematic and carry out manipulations comprehensively.
When speaking, a stuttering person experiences a lack of air; this provokes tension in the muscles of the face, neck and back, regardless of the cause of the disease.
Muscle gymnastics consists of the following exercises:
- While standing, inhale as deeply as possible, with each subsequent intake of air, increasing the volume of the chest. Try to exhale quickly and rhythmically, making the sound “huu”. One cycle is 10–15 repetitions, and you need to do 10–20 approaches per day.
- Hold your breath for 25–30 seconds. This will help improve ventilation and muscle tone.
- Daily cardio training for 15 minutes will increase the body's ability to adapt and improve blood flow in the lungs.
- Yoga is an excellent option for muscle exercises, but is only suitable for adults.
Voice gymnastics exercises against stuttering will help you learn to speak correctly. When spending it with your child, make sure that he stands straight and looks into your eyes. Soon the baby will get used to it and stop acting awkward.
Using voice gymnastics, perform home performances for family and friends. This is a method of overcoming fear of public, as well as correcting and staging the voice.
For gymnastics it helps:
- Humming songs in which vowel sounds predominate: A O E I. While singing, try to gradually raise your voice or make it quieter.
- Singing the same songs, but in a different manner of playback. To do this, ask the baby to change the intonation from cheerful to sad, and then to affectionate or angry.
- Throw the ball and pronounce the syllables correctly for each hit: “mA-mE-mo” or “shO-shA-tsA” or words with “sh, s, r”.
The sooner a person realizes the need to work on the correctness of the conversation and the cost of his own efforts, the sooner a positive result will overtake him.
Rhythmic exercises for stuttering are similar to warming up in dancing; it consists of tapping and repeating what you hear. Start with an easy one: 2 knocks and 2 more. After correct repetition, complicate the task: 2, then 3 times, etc.
To diversify the exercise, replace knocking with clapping your hands, reciting simple, easy-to-remember rhymes and tongue twisters: “OUR TANYA IS CRYING LOUDLY...”, “THE OWNER Abandoned the BUNNY.” Choose easy tongue twisters, gradually complicating them with words with the sound “r” or “sh”.
In exercises, logorhythmics often use exercise therapy elements: jumps, bends and turns.
Singing
In addition, being engrossed in the rhythm of music reduces concentration on the spoken words, eliminating the fear of pronouncing complex words.
Classes begin with singing vowels . The next stage is singing syllables with consonants, the pronunciation of which is not difficult. Singing words and sentences begins with simple ones, gradually complicating the task.
Singing is most often accompanied by physical activity. A person who stutters can conduct himself or a partner, tap out a rhythm, walk and jump.
When choosing songs, pay attention to the following characteristics:
- begins with a strong beat;
- the melody is descending;
- pace is slow;
- short phrases;
- the text is easy to pronounce.
Songs with these characteristics are much easier to sing.
The pronunciation of words begins with exhalation, the force of which is greater at the start. A descending melody corresponds to a gradual weakening of breathing.
It is also easier to start singing at a slow tempo. After getting used to it, you can use an accelerated pace. Short phrases and simple words will not create difficulties when singing.
What methods of logorhythmics exist?
Music, movement and speech are very closely related. Corrective logorhythmic techniques are based on this connection.
The course of treatment includes the following types of classes:
- musical motor games;
- communication games;
- singing;
- recitation of poems and tongue twisters;
- melodic declamation.
Rhythmic movements to music develop motor skills, which are always closely related to expressive speech . Impaired motor skills, inhibition or increased excitability, cause muscle spasms while pronouncing words. Improving motor skills allows you to achieve rhythmic, smooth speech and control its tempo.
The use of a metronome during correctional speech therapy work facilitates the development of speech rhythms when stuttering.
The tempo of the metronome is set depending on the individual characteristics of the stutterer. For each beat, one syllable must be pronounced, punctuation marks are highlighted by silence for 2 beats.
Goals and benefits for people who stutter
The main goal of using logorhythmics is to achieve a lasting improvement in speech rhythms and the correct sound of words and fluency of speech.
The benefits of logorhythmic exercises are undeniable ; in addition to speech development and getting rid of speech disorders, they improve mental state. Success during classes allows you to cope with the fear of communication due to stuttering.
Pros and cons of treating adults, children and adolescents
Logorithmic methods have the following advantages:
- breathing correction;
- setting the rhythm of speech;
- development of fluency of pronunciation;
- elimination of muscle spasm;
- getting rid of forced pauses in speech and repetitions of sounds.
Flaws:
- Regular training is required;
- It takes several months to achieve results.
Logorhythmic methods for correcting stuttering are varied, but they have one goal - to get rid of speech disorders . Regardless of the chosen methodology, it is important to remember that the main thing in achieving success is consistency and regularity of classes.