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From: Tom Brennan
Date: 07 Oct 2011
Time: 07:26:54 -0500
Remote Name: 144.96.128.14
Kevin, I actually agree with you that video is a very definite potential tool for therapy and can see its uses. I wanted to make a few comments on the blind client as I previously talked about the clinician. First, its great to be able to go into therapy and get your home work in braille and be able to provide assignments in braille. Because most blind people do not know braille recordings are often quite valuable as are computer messages. Of course, what is fairly simple fror a sighted pws (going somewhere to do an assignment) can be a nightmare for a blind pws. First you have to deal with knowing or not knowing the area in terms of mobility, being able to successfully identify people etc., handling what ever mobility aid you use during your outing (cane, dog guide, etc.), and lots of other things. Keep in mind that a simple thing like a trip to the store for face-to-face speaking may be traumatic in itself to the blind stuttering client for reasons unrelated to stuttering. Obviously mirror practice is not an option nor is the use of pictures etc. Printed material becomes problematic to use in the therapy room. Also, keep in mind that no speech path tests with which I am familiar are normed either for blind clients of for administration by blind clinicians. This means that great care must potentially be taken with how testing is done. Remember that working with a partially sighted person is a completely different thing than working with a totally blind person. A "partial" may actually have functional vision. Remember that blindness (just as stuttering) is a part of how a client must live but is not the client and does not determine the kind of therapy that is approproate.