What is a Prolongation in Speech?
Role of Speech Therapy: Speech therapy is highly effective in helping individuals who stutter by reducing disfluencies, improving speech fluency, and boosting confidence.
Types of Stuttering: Stuttering can manifest as prolongations, repetitions, and blocks, often accompanied by avoidance behaviors and physical tension.
Causes of Stuttering: While the exact causes of stuttering are unclear, it often begins in early childhood and may coexist with other disorders like ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Treatment Techniques: Techniques such as the prolonged speech approach and speech modification strategies are used in therapy to help individuals overcome stuttering, with personalized treatment plans tailored to each individual’s needs.
How can speech therapy help someone who stutters?
Prolongations in speech are a form of stuttering or fluency disorder in which some consonant sounds are prolonged but not for emphatic effect. Stuttering is the most common form of fluency disorder and is characterized as an interruption in the flow or fluency of speech. The term “fluency” in speech therapy refers to the consistency, pace, smoothness, and effort within speech production. Disfluencies of speech are common, and anyone can produce disfluent speech at any time. It is normal to hesitate during speech, use filler words such as “uh” or “like” or repeat a specific word or phrase, all of which are referred to as nonfluencies or typical disfluencies.
Stuttering and other fluency disorders are identified by regular interruptions in speech fluency, often presenting as an abnormal rate and rhythm of speech and other disfluencies such as frequent repetitions, prolongations, and blocks. These disfluencies are sometimes accompanied by avoidant behaviors (attempts to avoid speech), excessive physical tension, visible challenges, and secondary adaptive behaviors. It is also common for individuals with fluency disorders to experience significant psychological, social, emotional, and functional effects because of their communication disorder and related difficulties.
Speech therapy is one of the most beneficial and valuable supportive resources for individuals who are struggling with a communication disorder of any kind. Over time, working with an experienced speech and language pathologist can help to significantly reduce instances of stuttering, improve confidence, and allow the individual to reach their communication potential in all areas of their life.
If you or a loved one struggles with stuttering or disfluent speech, we can connect you with one of our qualified SLPs within 3 days of your initial call. Reach out to us to schedule your free introductory call today!
What Are the Different Types of Stuttering?
The symptoms of stuttering can vary widely between individuals but most commonly present as one or a combination of these three disfluencies:
Prolongations: Prolongations occur in individuals who stutter by causing them to prolong a certain consonant sound that isn’t for emphatic purposes. This might sound like “Sssssssssometimes we go out” or “Mmmmmmmmmmmmay I have a drink?”
Repetitions: Stuttering can cause an individual to frequently repeat certain sounds, syllables, or one-syllable words, for example, “Look at the c-c-c-cat!” or “Let’s go for a walk-walk-walk.”
Blocks: When referring to speech disfluencies, a block means the individual is unable to initiate certain sounds, which often presents as an inaudible or silent fixation on the initiation of speech.
The above-listed disfluencies can also affect the rhythm and pace of speech and are also sometimes accompanied by avoidance or escape behaviors (avoiding specific sounds, words, situations, or people that pose the most challenge), secondary mannerisms (excessive eye-blinking or head nodding, for example,) negative reactions to speaking, and extreme physical tension.
What Causes Stuttering?
While the exact causes of stuttering are widely unknown, fluency disorders most commonly begin during childhood. According to recent research, as much as 95 percent of individuals who stutter begin to do so before they are 4 years old, with the average age of stuttering onset being around 3 years of age. For some individuals, the onset is quite sudden, whereas for others it can develop gradually and progress or worsen over time.
Periods of disfluent speech are often a normal part of speech development in children, and in some situations the disfluencies can disappear for weeks or even months, only to reappear again. Stuttering often occurs alongside other disorders, such as:
- Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Intellectual Disability
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Epilepsy or other Seizure Disorders
- Learning Disability
- Social Anxiety Disorder
- Expressive or Receptive Language Disorders
- Speech Sound Disorders
Whatever the underlying cause of the speech disfluency may be, speech therapy offers the best outcome for individuals of all ages working to overcome their stuttering. A customized treatment plan and targeted approach, when offered in a comfortable and judgment-free environment, allows individuals to improve the fluency of their speech and reduce instances of stuttering. Get started with one of our qualified speech therapists today by scheduling your free introductory call now!
What is the Prolonged Speech Approach?
While prolongations in the context of a fluency disorder are interruptions to the flow and rate of speech and are generally undesirable when speaking, prolongations in speech therapy can also be used to help overcome stuttering and improve the flow of speech.
The prolonged speech approach is a frequently used treatment technique for teens and adults who struggle with stuttering. This technique involves helping individuals learn to alter their manner of speaking to reduce disfluencies. To begin, the speech therapist will encourage the individual to start with very slow speech production (for instance, having them say one syllable per second when reading aloud from a passage), intentionally prolong the initial sound of each word, and then slowly increase the rate of speech to a more natural pace. The prolonged speech approach is effective at improving speech fluency for many people who stutter, as it provides more time for the brain to communicate with the articulators (lips, jaw, tongue, and throat.) It is generally regarded as the only evidence-based approach for promoting improved speech fluency in those who stutter.
How Can Prolongations in Stuttering be Reduced?
The best way to overcome prolongations in stuttering is to work closely with an experienced speech and language pathologist. As is the case when learning or improving any skills, the key to success is daily intensive practice of specific exercises that progress in difficulty.
While the specific approach to reducing prolongations in stuttering will depend on the particular challenges and related underlying conditions the individual is struggling with, speech therapy for stuttering typically involves the following:
- Speech Modification & Fluency Shaping Techniques
- Reducing Physical Tension
- Reducing Negative Reactions and Avoidant Behaviors
- Increasing Awareness Around Disfluencies
- Improving Speech Initiation Abilities
- Teaching Self-Modification Techniques
- Education Around Stuttering Types, the Articulators & Respiratory System
- Specific Exercises and Techniques to Practice at Home
Most individuals will improve their speech fluency significantly by working closely with a speech and language pathologist. Speech therapy has been shown to increase confidence, reduce instances of stuttering, and empower individuals to communicate effectively in a variety of situations. If you or a loved one might benefit from working with a speech therapist, getting started is as easy as scheduling your free introductory call today!