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From: Amanda Worrell
Date: 18 Oct 2004
Time: 17:07:40 -0500
Remote Name: 157.182.12.29
Ms. Green, I enjoyed reading your paper about the York Region Preschool Speech and Language Program, especially the Parent Fluency Workshop component. I am currently a graduate student in speech pathology at West Virginia University and until this point I had never heard of such a program. I think that it is a great idea which seems to work well in your area. In our class we have discussed Starkweather’s demands/capacities model, and have talked about ways parents can reduce the demands place on their child. However, I have never heard of a program that focused on this approach. We have discussed the Lidcombe Program, which also focuses heavily on parental involvement. I also think that it is good that the program takes other theories into account such as the interactionist approach and various counseling strategies. The way that the capacities are explained seems very easy for parents to understand. This program also gives the parents a feeling of power over helping their child in their struggle with stuttering. I just had a few questions. 1) I know that you stated that data has not been analyzed, but I was wondering if there were plans to formally analyze the data. It seems that this would be a good idea that would further support the effectiveness of this program. 2) Have you ever experienced a lack of parental support? Because it appears that this program would not be effective at all if the parents were not actively involved. 3) Also as a result of this program, have other similar programs developed in different areas? Do you know of any similar programs in the United States? I believe that a program like this would be a great asset for families across the world. Thank you, Amanda Worrell