Show Aids Ails Speak A small instrument that looks like a hearing aid is helping improve their speech and gain the self- self confidence needed to be at ease in a speaking situation according to Dr John Paul Brady professor proCessor of oC psychiatry at the University of oC Pennsylvania Penn Penn- sylvania DR BRADY told told- tolda a a. a group of oC University of Utah students at a recent Department of oC Psychiatry seminar that the aid is a miniaturized miniaturized miniaturized min min- which ticks off regular beats into the wearers wearer's ear helping him to pace his rus speech and to eliminate hesitations or prolongations in words or sounds t 4 The metronome used by piano players has been used for Cor years in helping to slow down and regulate their speech said Dr Brady But now a can carry his own me constantly and inconspicuously THE device three and arid a half centimeters long is worn like a hearing aid can be hidden under long hair and andis is inaudible to anyone but the wearer Dr Brady reported that in about 80 percent of oC cases the metronome had been discarded after several weeks when the wearers wearer's speech was trained to match the normal persons person's in tone inflection and rhythm Personality problems are area a consequence of stuttering not the other way around said Dr Brady The larger and more formal Cormal the occasion the more anxious the gets about his speech and the themore themore themore more he stutters By building up confidence in his speech the becomes less anxious and behaves more normally DR BRADY rejects the old therapy methods in which a substitutes a word for Cor the one he can not say and avoids eye contact with the listener These are avoidance techniques that tend to undermine the confidence in if ever being able to express himself adequately said the pro pro- fessor Cessor |