[ Contents | Search | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Lynne
Date: 16 Oct 2007
Time: 16:39:00 -0500
Remote Name: 68.143.177.2
Nancy, I can't comment on the general practice of parental involvement and the rate at which parents are integrated into therapy for their child. However, in our practice at the university where I teach and supervise, we ask parents to be involved. How they are involved depends on the particular parents and child, and on the treatment that is being carried out. Just to give you an example, if a child is being asked to use voluntary stuttering, and has decided to do so outside of the therapy setting, then I typically will have the child bring his or her parents into the clinic room and teach the parent how to do voluntary stuttering. An outside assignment may be to have the child play a game of 20 questions with a parent and both the child and parent are to use voluntary stuttering. The same is true of other techniques--I usually like the parents to learn the technique and use it outside of therapy. It gives the child a partner in practice who is also doing the same task, and it helps the parent(s) realize how difficult it is to actually use a technique on a regular basis, so they can be more realistic about how quickly a child might transfer a therapy tool into their everyday speech. Parents may also be involved in advocating for their child at school. I talk with them about ways to engage the child's teacher in modifying tasks to make it easier for the child to participate in class. Eventually, I'd like the child to advocate for him or herself, but the parents can be positive advocates for and with their school-aged child. I also like parents to talk about stuttering with their child, so we may have activities in clinic where we all explore different topics about stuttering. So, I think it is important for parents to be involved in their child's treatment. It may be harder for that to occur in some settings, such as schools, but I believe it is important to make attempts to get the parents integrated into therapy. Regards, Lynne