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From: Charlie Healey
Date: 07 Oct 2007
Time: 13:02:56 -0500
Remote Name: 76.84.69.211
There isn't any simple way to explore how people who stutter, particularly teenagers, feel about their speech and themselves. I believe that the negative feelings are tied to self-esteem issues. For example, I have had some clients who are very happy and have a positive self-image and they were okay with their stuttering. For those with negative feelings that you suspect are there but the client has trouble expressing them, try first giving the client the CAT or the Erickson S-24 scale (teens could do either one). Talk about the answers that he provides and maybe use phrases like, "I wonder if you felt angry about your stuttering in that situation or when "X" happens. Clients will tell you right away if you have labeled the emotion correctly. Teens have to trust the people they are with to open up. I also find that it helps to model expression of feelings like, I was so embarrassed when "X" happened or I felt so ashamed when ... The idea is to show the child that you are there to listen and talk about feelings as they relate to stuttering. Getting into feelings about other things or issues in the child's life gets tricky so I always try to bring the discussion of tangental issues back to speech and stuttering. For example, the child may say that he gets angry when his dad picks on and makes me do things. I would say, does he pick on you about your stuttering? Or, when he picks on you, how hard is it to control your speech when you talk with your father? Another suggestion is to consult the "Working with Emotions and Stuttering" workbook published by the Stuttering Foundation (Chemela and Reardon). In the front of that book, they provide suggestions about how to talk to a child about feelings and emotions. You might want to take a look at that, particularly the encouraging praise section. If you have a good rapport with this child, he will eventually trust you and open up a bit about how he feels about his speech. Keep trying to draw him out even if it seems like you aren't getting anywhere. He will appreciate the fact that you are willing to listen and don't have answer or want to try and "fix" things. Just be a good listener and offer perspectives, not things he needs to do. Hope this helps!