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From: Ken Logan
Date: 21 Oct 2011
Time: 09:12:27 -0500
Remote Name: 128.227.204.28
Dear Margaret, It will be difficult to give really specific information without seeing your son, but one of the first things you can do (if you're not doing so already!) is to periodically acknowledge the feelings that he experiences. Sometimes parents are hesitant to acknowledge a child's fluency struggles for fear of making the problem worse. In most cases, though, kids will appreciate it when someone is there to validate their feelings occasionally and offer encouragement. As far the "um" repetition, I think the therapist is on the right track in helping him identify it in his speech (if that's what the audio tape replay is for). In my experience, children and adult can find it a bit distressing to hear (or see) the fluency problems they are experiencing, though - at least in the early stages of a therapy program. It may be more fruitful to first discuss with your son the pros and cons of the "umming" and then once the benefits of changing the pattern are agreed upon, you (or the therapist) could assist him with this process by "flagging" the multiple "um's" via a simple hand signal or something similar. No need to flag every single one at first, just the ones that go especially long or distressing. The purpose here would be (1) to build awareness / self monitoring, and (2) once the "umming incident" is stopped, to then introduce the possibility of change (here's the old way to say it... now let's try a new way). "New way" does not necessarily imply "perfectly fluent." That may be too big of leap. In some cases like this, it's perfectly fine to have a big, long stutter on the first sound of the upcoming word -- that is something to be congratulated for because it is moving closer to the real goal, which is saying the intended sounds in a particular word. So, the idea is too progressively approximate smoother, more fluent speech. Anyway, these are just a few thoughts. Good luck, Ken (I said I wouldn't be too specific, but I guess it is a bit detailed...anyway, some food for though...)