A New Breathing Technique to Help Stop Stuttering

More than 2.6 million Americans stutter. The trouble usually begins early, between ages 2 and 7, and affects five times more boys than girls. Along with complicating communication, stuttering causes a variety of other problems: humiliation, frustration, difficult social relations and poor self-image. While 70% of children grow out of it, the rest are plagued for life by fractured speech.

Traditionally, researchers have thought stuttering is caused by deep-rooted emotional or psychological problems. But in “Stutter No More” (Simon & Schuster, $18.95), Dr. Martin F. Schwartz, executive director of the National Center for Stuttering, writes that stuttering is a physical problem. Under stress, we all show signs of muscle tension--often in the shoulders and neck, abdomen and hands. But some people tighten up in the larynx and vocal cords, which predisposes them to stuttering.

“This muscular tendency is congenital and hereditary,” Schwartz says. “The distress of stuttering causes emotional and psychological damage, not the other way around.”

Rather than trying to slow down speech--the usual approach--Schwartz teaches a breathing technique that stops stuttering before it begins. Patients also receive stress-management training, a year of practice sessions and follow-up care. By the end of the treatment, he says, about 95% have stopped stuttering.

Not all of Schwartz’s colleagues agree that his physiological explanation fully accounts for stuttering. Moreover, remarks Dr. Ben Watson, a professor of clinical speech physiology at the University of Texas at Dallas, “Schwartz’s treatments are more helpful in the short term.”

Parents of stutterers can help by speaking softly and slowly, says Schwartz, and by trying to reduce stress at home or school. He has designed a questionnaire to help parents determine whether their child will outgrow the problem. For information, call the National Center for Stuttering at (800) 221-2483.