Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1 How To Use Costal Breathing To Help Control Stuttering Stammering
1 How To Use Costal Breathing To Help Control Stuttering Stammering
1
REVISED 1 AUGUST 2016
2
REVISED 1 AUGUST 2016
The teaching of costal breathing forms the basis of several courses (none
of I am a representative of) for the treatment of stuttering. In the United
Kingdom, the British Stammering Association has created a page that acts
as a portal mainly for information on two such courses please see
http://www.stammering.org/speaking-out/speaking-out-tags/costal-
breathing.
Although there are now two main courses available for English speakers
(i.e. non-profit The Starfish Project and for-profit The McGuire Programme),
the technique itself has been used for many years in various parts of the
world including at the for-profit Del Ferro Institute in The Netherlands
(which may have started the first dedicated public course teaching costal
breathing as a means to address stuttering). No one course therefore
"owns" costal breathing in the context of stuttering therapy.
3
REVISED 1 AUGUST 2016
Finally, a more general book about stuttering which Ive found very helpful
is Stammering: Advice for All Ages by Renee Byrne and Louise Wright.
This little book is amazingly comprehensive with information about most of
the main therapies and treatment options, exercises to try at home to deal
with a range of specific incidents of stuttering and a wide range of
recommendations for further reading and links to organisations and bodies
which can help. The book also has information on courses using costal
breathing. The books Amazon UK page is at
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stammering-Advice-Ages-Renee-
Byrne/dp/1847090206/.
You should only speak when youre ready to speak. The rationale behind
this step is that people who stutter commonly just rush into many
speaking situations through a desire to portray themselves as fluent and
able to speak on demand. Given however that this is not the case we
are people who stutter and not fluent speakers - it is worth taking a little
4
REVISED 1 AUGUST 2016
time before speaking to consider how one is going to speak and what, if
anything, might be done to improve fluency.
Pausing and taking a brief period of time to calm yourself should also help
reduce the sense of panic that many stutterers feel in some speaking
situations. You are as able to control the pace of a conversation as the
person youre talking with!
During this pause try to decide what you are going to say and articulate
this silently to yourself. This will allow you to focus subsequently on how
you are going to say it i.e. with a strong costal breath.
Expelling all of the air from your longs will allow you to take a subsequent
costal breath that is both deep and fast. Your body will automatically help
you take that breath because your bodys natural tendency when your
lungs are completely empty is to fill them with air. Emptying your lungs
sets your diaphragm in its default position. Having your lungs totally
empty of air will let you take the full breath that is key to this technique.
Expelling all of the air in your lungs before you take a costal breath is also
useful in that it will slow down your rate of speaking. This will only ever
have positive impacts on your fluency.
5
REVISED 1 AUGUST 2016
I cannot stress enough that the depth of the breath and its speed are
crucial. Although shallower breaths may work for you in many situations,
they will not work for you all of the time. Only the deepest and sharpest
breath will allow you to speak successfully most of the time even in those
especially testing and trying of speaking situations.
While you may be able to slightly modify the characteristics of the breath
when youre more familiar with the technique, its likely that youll always
need to fall back on a deep breath sometimes. The speed of the breath
must always be applied youll never be able to use this technique if you
take a slow breath. Thats one thing that you cant modify.
6
REVISED 1 AUGUST 2016
Initially this breath might be noisy and quite noticeable to others, but with
practice and familiarity this should diminish. You might also find that your
shoulders rise up when you take a breath this is a common occurrence
when first practising costal breathing and you should try not to let yourself
do this. Even you feel that you are doing this unconsciously try to remain
aware of it - by doing so you should find that this occurrence stops as you
become more comfortable with the technique.
If you feel like you are going to encounter a speech block and wont able
to speak immediately then you should try speaking with an assertive first
sound i.e. a forcefully produced sound. If you have, however, taken a
successful costal breath then you should be able to speak without blocking
or, at the very least, be able to make a start on speaking without blocking.
At this stage dont forget that there are subsequent steps to the technique
which need to be applied read those and then come back to this step if
youre still having trouble speaking.
7
REVISED 1 AUGUST 2016
Most people who stutter speak too quickly. Slowing down is not only
easier on those people you are speaking to, but it is easier for you too. It
will give you more control of what you are trying to say and how you say
it. Slowing down should help you even if you dont decide to give costal
breathing a go.
When speaking you should aim to speak from your chest with a deep,
breathy tone. This, along with a loud, projected voice, will help you
overcome your tendency to block. For example, if you have taken a costal
breath and tried speaking at the top of that breath without success, try
deepening your tone and imagining that you are speaking to someone
across a noisy room.
This is an important part of the technique, but a part which can easily be
overlooked. If you find yourself blocking, especially when you are trying to
speak immediately after taking your costal breath, its likely that focusing
on this step will help you.
You should aim to limit yourself to three to four words per costal breath
initially. You will probably be able to increase the number of words per
breath as you become more comfortable with the technique, but when
youre first trying to apply the technique, dont put too much pressure on
yourself.
LEGAL
8
REVISED 1 AUGUST 2016
to it, but you must not use it, nor any derivative works, for commercial
purposes.