Recommendations for dysfluency
RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Parents should set good models for the child by slowing down their overall rate of speech.
- They have to maintain good eye contact when the child is dysfluent.
- It is essential to give the child enough time to formulate his thoughts without trying to disrupt or fill in the sentences for him.
- Parents and teachers have to avoid negative reactions and use rewards and encouragement.
- They have to give the child more attention and time, express their appreciation for whatever he does and be reasonable in their demands from him.
- The amount of fluent speech the child experiences has to be increased, for example by avoiding too much speaking on the days in which dysfluency is heightened. This is particularly important as dysfluency is usually of intermittent course and usually occurs in the form of unpredictable episodes.
- Not only parents, but also all those who are in contact with the child have to avoid:
- Verbally interrupting him
- Asking him a question before he answers an initial one
- Filling in words for him
- Guessing what he is about to say
- Continuously correcting his verbal and non-verbal behaviors
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