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From: Ken St. Louis
Date: 11 Oct 2006
Time: 15:26:09 -0500
Remote Name: 157.182.15.42
Dear Curious, Yes, I would say you are off to a good start. Your first-grader obviously is getting some success from the reading / language activities and accompanying fluency shaping targets. The success you are seeing in terms of reduced blocking and/or stuttering might be a function of several things. First, it could be from the fluency shaping targets (easy-on-set, sliding, and light contact. [Note: the sliding may be a stuttering modification strategy; I don't know without a description.] Second, reduced frequency or severity of stuttering often occurs from structured activities, i.e., the reading and language activities. Third, improvement could have resulted from your child simply liking and feeling more and more comfortable in the therapy setting (related to adaptation and desensitization). My guess is that it is from the second and third reasons I mentioned, but I really cannot know. This is a good start, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that just because your child can be fluent with you in this structured setting, she will be able to transfer it outside. No need to rush, but at some point, you should being to build in some transfer activities. Good luck, Ken