Stuttering Interviews

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Re: Question

From: Peter Reitzes
Date: 11 Oct 2007
Time: 18:33:19 -0500
Remote Name: 149.68.106.178

Comments

Hey Tara, thanks for writing. I typically introduce Stuttering Interviews around the third grade. However, there are always exceptions. For example, some third and fourth graders may show little or no awareness of stuttering while some second graders may easily engage in talking about stuttering. Introduce Stuttering Interviews to children when you think they are ready and when their awareness is high enough to make the activity beneficial. For any child, it is best to first work with him or her so the child has experiences talking with you and their peers openly about stuttering. It also helps if the child knows some of the basic facts about stuttering. This may make the actual interviews and conversations that take place during the interviews more comfortable. The child may be able share a little of what he or she knows about stuttering with teachers and others. Once the child is able to engage with you about stuttering, you may begin introducing the interviews. You ask, “how long do you feel it takes, on average, for a child to be comfortable with his or her stuttering around peers?” I do not know if you meant this, but your question assumes that as the result of therapy, children will be completely comfortable around their peers. This may be true for some students, but many others become “more comfortable,” as opposed to “completely comfortable.” The same way that the frequency and severity of stuttering may be variable, the way that children feel about stuttering is also variable. Some days a child may feel good about himself while other days prove to be significantly harder. As far as adults and teens go, this activity was adapted from the Successful Stuttering Management Program (SSMP) which is a therapy program for adults and teens. So yes, it may certainly be used with adults and teens. But of course, it would need to be adapted to be more age appropriate for older people who stutter. Peter


Last changed: 10/22/07