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From: Peter Reitzes
Date: 11 Oct 2006
Time: 17:51:43 -0500
Remote Name: 69.22.238.4
Kathryn, thanks for writing. I agree with you completely that students often internalize what teachers (and clinicians) tell them and teach them. I was in speech therapy in my early twenties and still think of comments and things I learned from my therapist. As far as starting to use positive language, it is not an issue for me because it is how I naturally talk now. I would just use it casually, when appropriate. For example, if a child says he is stuttering “badly,” you have the perfect opportunity to respond. If you wish to bring up the topic of positive language yourself, you could have a lesson where you demonstrate different types of stuttering behaviors and ask students to help you name them. For example, children may name prolongations as “snake sounds” and blocks as “traffic stops.” Then you could demonstrate a really hard stutter and say, “It is now my turn! I am going to call that a ‘good’ stutter because I stuttered really well!” Then take it from there. As far as being a good listener and honoring feelings, I am so glad you brought it up because they are very important points. You cannot or should not attempt to reframe negative language all of time – pick your spots. For example, if an adult (or child) mentions that she is having some really “bad” stutters, you can explore this topic, honor those feelings, and perhaps mention, “I want to help you turn those ‘bad’ stutters into ‘better’ stutters.” Hope this has helped.