In speech therapy, which approach is often used to address disfluency?

The approach of speech rate reduction is commonly employed in speech therapy to address disfluency, particularly in individuals who stutter. The rationale behind this method is that many people who experience disfluencies benefit from speaking at a slower, more controlled pace. This allows individuals to focus on their speech patterns and can decrease the pressure that often accompanies fluent speech production. By slowing down their speech, they can create strategies to manage their disfluency more effectively, which can lead to improved fluency over time.

In contrast, the other methods—such as sound substitution therapy, vocal training, and articulation practice—target different aspects of speech and communication. For example, sound substitution therapy focuses on replacing problematic sounds in speech, vocal training aims to improve voice quality and projection, and articulation practice emphasizes the precision of consonant and vowel sounds. While these approaches may be beneficial in their respective contexts, they do not specifically address the issue of disfluency in the same targeted way that speech rate reduction does.