4 Ways To Work On Stuttering At Home
1. Playing with Cars
Make the cars go fast and go slow and talk about how our speech can also go fast and slow. When the car goes too fast it might get bumpy! We need to slow down so the car can move smoothly and it is the same with our speech.
2. Memory Game
Model slower speech and adding more pauses while you play Memory with your child. Turn a card over and state what card you have while modeling slow speech. Your child will naturally model your speech pattern. If you hear dysfluencies, you can model back their sentence fluently.
3. Simon Says
While playing Simon Says, have your child tense up their body and freeze then have your child make their body loose like a melting ice cube. Then practice doing the same with their speech (e.g. Simon says talk too tight or talk too loose) to show they have control over their speech. Then when they have a block or are speaking with too much tension causing a stuttering moment, they can remember how it felt when their speech was “too tight” and practice making it feel “looser” or “easier.”
4. Read Books
Even if your child is not of reading age, they can still participate in books that have repetitive and predictable text. A good example of this is Brown Bear. You can model slow and easy speech and say, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?” and you child can respond, “I see a purple cat looking at me.” This is a fun and enjoyable way to work on smooth speech!
-Carrie Ravine, Speech Therapist