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Re: Nine year old stuttering

From: Joe Donaher
Date: 06 Oct 2009
Time: 09:38:12 -0500
Remote Name: 159.14.241.250

Comments

Rachel, You asked the question that many families struggle with; what is the best therapy for my child and how do I know that we are making progress. Certainly working with someone who specializes in stuttering and especially works with children who stutter and their families, is a good place to start. You can find a list of specialists at www.stutteringspecialists.org But remember that the SLP is just one member of your team. Next, in order to gage progress, it helps to have your goals clearly defined and understood by all parties. This means that the family, the child, the teacher and the SLP have coordinated their approaches and are working on the same things. By promoting collaboration between team members, you are ensuring that everyone knows what they should do (and what not to do) , what they should be measuring and what messages they should be sending to the child. Lastly, instead of searching for the perfect plan, I would suggest that you search for signs that things are progressing. These may include a reduction of stuttering behaviors, an increased willingness to communicate in various settings, reduced communication anxiety and various other barometers that you and your child are moving forward. Best of luck. Joe


Last changed: 10/23/09