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From: Dick Mallard
Date: 10/6/03
Time: 11:03:34 AM
Remote Name: 147.26.104.100
Maryann, I shall never forget the first time I attended a specialty meeting in stuttering. Some presenters (the experts!) stuttered quite severely. At the closing session, I tried to count the number of specialists in the audience who had quite noticeable stuttering. There were many! I wondered at the time what prospective clients must think of going for help only to find out that the expert could not control his/her own speech. The experts who stutter and teach future clinicians about stuttering can provide valuable insights but the experts are a long way from knowing all the answers!
I suggest you not try to "fix" your client's speech. Only they can help themselves. Perhaps you can try finding out what the client's problem is and go from there. You will be surprised to learn that decreasing stuttering may not be the real problem that the person is experiencing. I improved my clinical accountability considerably by letting the client talk to me about what is important at the time rather than me assuming speech control should be the focus of treatment.
Good luck!
Dick Mallard