Using a Metronome in Speech

Have you ever used a metronome app in speech therapy? There are plenty of free ones available on the app store, such as this one. You can easily change how fast or slow you want it to go.

I’ve used a metronome app before in therapy, particularly to slow rate of speech. Sometimes I’ll just play it out loud for the student. You can also have the student listen with headphones. Anecdotally, it has sometimes worked to help students become more aware of their rate of speech, but is not a long term solution, as you don’t want kids walking around with headphones in. This got me thinking about whether or not you can use metronomes for other aspects of speech.

At the end of this year, I wanted to see if it would help one of my students speed up his rate of speech. He was diagnosed with apraxia when he was younger, but now just needs to work on articulation of /r/. In running conversation, his speech can be slower and the listener can sometimes get distracted by it while he is working to get his message out. I played a metronome at 165 bpm, and listened to see if it helped naturally increase his rate of speech. Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn’t.

This article looked at the effects a metronome had on fluency. While this study used fluent adults, it posed interesting questions on whether or not it could be beneficial for people who stutter. I admittedly haven’t had too many fluency students where I could try it out in therapy

I’d love to hear if you’ve ever used a metronome in therapy? Results?