[ Contents | Search | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Charlie Healey
Date: 17 Oct 2007
Time: 15:24:25 -0500
Remote Name: 129.93.99.57
You ask a good question! What you don't want to do is make the child feel guilty about not being ready to work on his stuttering at this time. He might not want to continue so what I usually say is you are welcome to come back when you need more help. Asking for more help may never happen but kids have to be ready to make a change before any therapy is going to work. So, reassure them that stuttering will not ruin his/her life and that staying positive about who you are and how you speak, even if you stutter, is important. Being fluent may just take too much mental and physcial effort right now so therapy is not something he/she wants to do. It has been my experience that kids who discontinue therapy do so in the middle school years and then won't pursue therapy again until sometime in their twenties. At that point they are older and wiser and ready to work on his/her speech. Thanks for reading my article and asking the question about school-age children who stutter.