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From: Jean Sawyer
Date: 10 Oct 2010
Time: 11:01:13 -0500
Remote Name: 71.113.161.93
Thank you for your question, Susan. I imagine the child you are working with enjoys working with the puppet. I do believe that the child should enjoy stuttering therapy. There is evidence that children as young as 2 may be aware of their stuttering (Boey et al, 2009), and your client may be, too. There is nothing wrong with calling the child's attention to stuttering, and in fact, saying, "The puppet's speech is bumpy. Sometimes my speech is bumpy too. How about your speech?" The child can learn that no one's speech is ever completely smooth, and it is not a big deal, and furthermore, that the clinician (and hopefully parents, too) are there for the child to talk about it. The child can learn that he or she can make speech smooth, too, by talking slower and easier. I think you puppet approach is a good one for preschool children. Jean