The King's Speech

If you haven't already seen it, I definitely recommend it!! The movie really gives the public a feeling for the emotions behind a person who stutters. As a speech pathologist, it was especially interesting to see a portrayal of my profession 60+ years ago. While many things in the area of fluency therapy have changed, there are several aspects of the story that still hold true today. A recent article in the ASHA Leader (a newspaper mailed out to members of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) outlines many of the techniques that are, and are not, credited in current practice.


Techniques/ideas shown in the movie that are credited in current practice:

• Recognizing that motivation is essential to achieving success in therapy
• Establishment of a supporting, reinforcing, encouraging, and equally-balanced relationship between client and therapist
• Fluency-enhancing techniques such as masking, singing, speaking loudly and cursing
• Desensitization of stuttering through continuous practice
• Involvement of family members (the queen)
• Relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, and continuous phonation
• Pausing, bouncing, and light articulatory contacts
• Gliding into a word with a short prolongation or starting a word with a slight exhale
• Monitoring of rate of speech, and focusing on "forward moving" speech.
  

Techniques/ideas in the movie that are not credited in current practice:

• Marbles in the mouth
• Smoking to "relax the throat"
• Stuttering is caused by forcing a left-handed child to be right-handed or by a harsh upbringing
• Adult stuttering can be "cured"

For the full article, click here.