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From: Kristin Chmela
Date: 07 Oct 2008
Time: 22:43:34 -0500
Remote Name: 76.17.183.48
Ashley, you were wondering if this activity helps children become more accepting of stuttering? I think it can be a good way to help foster healthier beliefs about communication and stuttering. Many children I work with talk about their speech as being either "bad" or "good." I want to help them recognize that those are words that we use to describe speech, and that speech can be lots of other things instead. This is an important concept at around 7 or 8, when, according to Piaget, children are progressing from the Pre-operational period of cognitive development to the Concrete Operational period. During this transition, one of the things Piaget highlights is the ability of the child to begin thinking about what he/she is good at doing and what they are not good at, especially in comparison to their peers. I do think it helps children feel less sensitive about their stuttering and it also helps them understand various aspects of communication. The activity also is a way to talk about these concepts in a contextualized, concrete manner. I also think it would be a great activity to use in a group setting.