Teaching Tip: Students Who Stutter
Stuttering is a fairly common problem. Approximately 3 million people in the United States stutter, with a ratio of 5 males to 1 female. Here are some things you can do to enhance the fluency of students who stutter.
- Ignore times when the student stutters while reinforcing times when the student speaks fluently.
- Try to avoid having the student speak while he/she is doing something else at the same time.
- When speaking with the student, speak slowly with pauses.
- Make it clear to the student that you are interested in what he/she is saying, not how it is said.
- Provide opportunities for the student to contribute to the class in ways other than in-class discussions.
- Don't complete words for the student or do the student's talking.
- Don't tell the student to simply "slow down" or "relax".
- Don't lower your expectations for the student.
