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From: Scott
Date: 21 Oct 2012
Time: 20:57:42 -0500
Remote Name: 64.134.160.8
Hi Tiffany - Thanks for sharing your experience. We absolutely believe that there should be more education for SLPs, teachers, family members, and others about what stuttering really is. We talk about this a bit in the questions under our ISAD paper on bullying (written with Bill Murphy and Bob Quesal), and I also expound on this a bit in the Q&A following the ISAD paper on the definition of stuttering that I did with Eric Jackson & Bob Quesal. Put simply, I feel that too many people think they understand stuttering but really don't. Their misunderstanding leads them to treat children who stutter in a particular way (and by "treat" here I don't just mean clinical treatment but everyday interaction, as well). And, as a result of this, they end up putting more pressure on the child to be something that he may not be able to be (fluent all the time)... This can increase the child's problems - and it's not his/her fault! It's the fault of the people who thinks they know what stuttering is, but actually don't. That may be worded a bit strongly, but I share your concern and frustration about the challenges we face in teaching people about stuttering. Ultimately, the child will need to learn to advocate for himself, but until he's ready to do that, he'll need the help of people like you to speak up for him and help to create a space where he can be who he is, not who other people think he is or should be. Thanks again for your post and for your advocacy for children who stutter. S