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From: Kelly Jones
Date: 12 Oct 2010
Time: 17:57:19 -0500
Remote Name: 66.57.47.149
Hi Sara, Thanks for your comments and questions. You raise a good point—children’s willingness and/or ability to express their feelings and emotions, specifically with regard to speech, can vary drastically from one client to the next. Certainly when using these books as a therapeutic tool, you’re going to have some clients who show tremendous insight into their own feelings and attitudes, and other clients who aren’t able to or do not give you much feedback at all. That doesn’t necessarily mean that no changes have occurred for the latter group. I think that insights into the emotions of the character who stutters often point to insights into one’s own feelings. Some other ideas: using art (have the child draw a picture of their “stuttering” before and after discussion); you might try presenting certain “hypothetical” scenarios which are a little less direct—e.g., “Suppose you were asked to give a speech in front of the whole school… How would you react? What are some worries you might have? How do you think you would deal with those worries?” Or it may be useful to incorporate a rating scale of communication attitudes that the client can complete independently.