[ Contents | Search | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Lynne Shields
Date: 11 Oct 2005
Time: 09:35:26 -0500
Remote Name: 199.217.208.172
Rachel, Others have already shared the many good reasons to have students participate in pseudostuttering experiences. I, too, have my graduate students complete such an experience in my fluency disorders course. Let me share with you one way in which it has paid off directly for one of my students. This semester, she is working with an eight-year-old girl who stutters in our on-campus clinic. This little girl was very uncomfortable with her stuttering, and initially would not attempt to describe her stuttering or show the student what her stuttering looks like. The students asked this girl if it would be O.K. for her (the clinician) to imitate stuttering, so that the girl could tell her what she saw when stuttering happened. The girl agreed, and most recently, the two of them have been having lots of fun practicing stuttering in all sorts of crazy ways (loud, soft, squeaky, fast, slow, looking in the mirror, etc.), and have stuttering contests to see who can stutter the most. As a result, this child is becoming much less sensitive about her own stuttering, and can talk more openly about it. So, there really are direct clinical benefits to the exercise, in addition to those that have been mentioned by others here. Regards and best wishes as you complete your simulations, Lynne