Are you looking for strategies to help students who talk dysfluently? If so, keep reading.
1. Throughout moments of dysfluency, use non-oral learning activities to relax the student.
2. Praise the student for speaking fluently: (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., privileges such as leading the line, handing out learning materials, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).
3. Get the student’s hearing reviewed if it has not been recently reviewed.
4. Conference with the student’s parents to ascertain the level of dysfluency at home, parental reactions to the dysfluency, and successful strategies the parents have employed when dealing with the dysfluent speech.
5. Assist the student in learning to find situations in which they are more fluent or less fluent. Ascertain the aspects of the articulate situations that seem to enable fluency and try to transfer those features to the less articulate situations.
6. Exhibit slow, natural speech for the student and urge them to speak at a similar rate. Practice with the student for a short time each day until they can match the pace.
7. Get the student to make a list of their strong points or the things they do well to improve their overall level of confidence.
8. Teach the student that they are capable of fluent speech and are in control of speech in many situations.
9. Minimize the emphasis on competition. Competitive learning activities may increase the student’s anxiety and cause them to speak more dysfluently.
10. Develop simple oral reading passages in written form in which phrases are separated by spaces (indicating “pause”). Get the student to practice reading the passages aloud.
11. Utilize a private signal (e.g., raise a finger, touch earlobe, etc.) to urge the student to answer questions at a slow rate of speech.
12. Give the student an appropriate model of slow, natural speech. Lengthen the pauses between words, phrases, and sentences.
13. Consider using a language arts app. Click here to view a list of recommended apps.
14. Consider using a language development app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
