School-age Stuttering Therapy: A burden, a challenge, or an opportunity?

[ Contents | Search | Next | Previous | Up ]


Re: Goals

From: Scott
Date: 10 Oct 2012
Time: 10:51:38 -0500
Remote Name: 108.17.124.241

Comments

Hi Rebecca & Keli - Well, you've asked a terrific question here - one that Nina and I have written and presented about a ton. In fact, we're doing a workshop at ASHA this year specifically on how to write treatment goals, and the majority of the time will be spent on goals that aren't just focused on fluency. There's a ton of this in our book, too. Let me address the measurement piece first -- in an earlier response, I highlighted the importance of assessing the entire disorder. Fortunately, we have tools now that can help us do that. I'd start with a comprehensive assessment of the child's entire experience of stuttering. That information would help me to recognize what should be addressed in treatment. Then, once you know what the child's true needs are, you can begin to write goals that minimize the adverse effects of the disorder. So, if you have a child who is having difficulty reading aloud in class, then you can write goals that focus on reading aloud in class. This is clearly relevant to his education, so it's a good goal. The question, then, is how you help him read aloud in class... Chances are good that it is not just his stuttering that is interfering with reading, but also his FEAR of stuttering that is interfering with reading. So, in order to accomplish the goal of addressing his reading, you will need to work on desensitization, tension reduction, minimizing avoidance, etc... These goals, which address the broader consequences of stuttering, aren't separate from the "speech" goals - they are INHERENT in the speech goals. I think that's the key to understanding this aspect of therapy... The goals need to be thoroughly integrated. I could say much more, of course, but this will give you a taste of how this all fits together. Try not to think of it as separate aspects of the disorder, but rather, just different facets of the child's overall experience of stuttering. The more you can diminish the negative impact of stuttering, the easier it will be for the child to communicate. Good luck in your work! Again, thanks for posting. Scott


Last changed: 10/22/12