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From: Jill Douglass
Date: 07 Oct 2012
Time: 16:04:52 -0500
Remote Name: 130.123.104.22
Hi Sally Anne! The start of grad school is a humbling time, isn’t it? We learn so much and realize how much more there is to learn! You have great insight for your first question, by default we think that the school and hospital systems focus on numbers as qualifying factors for services; instead, we need to provide numbers as ONE of the qualifying factors for determining services. We need to provide a holistic assessment that reflects the needs of the whole child. One article that may interest you is: Yaruss, S. (2010). Evaluating and treating the school-age child who stutters. Seminars in Speech and Language, 31(4), 263-271. If approval for services is based on stuttering behaviours, then yes, the children who mildly stutter or covertly stutter will, more than likely, not be approved. If approval for services is based on the impact stuttering has on the client’s life, descriptors of the type of covert or compensatory behaviours, and evidence in research documenting that stuttering is more than behaviour then this should represent the child’s need and gain them approval. Your third question regarding an individual who is content with their covert behaviours and their quality of life is not affected. This is a scenario that has multiple possible realities. 1) If the person is seeking therapy, then you must find out why they are seeking therapy. Doing a holistic assessment may suggest there are some contradictory elements of their behaviour vs. their thought process. This can be addressed. 2) In general, if a person is comfortable with their covert behaviours and response to their stuttering, who are we to suggest they should do otherwise? As you read in the article, the process of coming out or not coming out or not living with the cognitive weight of living in hiding is individualized. Everyone is on their own journey. Thanks for helping delve deeper into this topic. –Jill