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From: Pam
Date: 08 Oct 2009
Time: 19:24:25 -0500
Remote Name: 24.195.248.126
Hi Tess, thanks for reading.I am glad you find it useful. It took me a long time to realize that I can contribute my expertise because I have lived with the whole stuttering experience. So I want to share at this point in my life. Do feel free to check out my blog too whenever you get a chance. . . . My experience with speech therapy as a 9 year old was over 30 years ago. Things have changed and much more is known about stuttering today. The school therapist with fluency clients really needs to understand that stuttering is unique, and so much more than what comes out of the person's mouth. If you are going to sucessfully work with kids who stutter, you have to meet them where they are and make every effort to normalize the stuttering experience forthe kid. I felt so different, so isolated, so weird. Help a kid not feel that. Introduce them to others that stutter. If not in person, then over the phone, skype, use technology. If I had met just one other person who stuttered, it would have made such a difference. And teach the student/child to focus on what he or she can do. I felt my parents and the school, and maybe even the SLP, felt that my stuttering was bad,and therefore, I felt I was bad. That is what needs to be addressed, as well as techniques to help the child manage their stuttering. I think the therapist I had in school just didn't know how to help me, becasue she didn't have any experience with stuttering.