From: Judy Butler
Date: 10/9/00
Time: 7:14:57 PM
Remote Name: 208.244.111.231
Dear Rebeka,
Since Jackie and I are practicing SLPs, not researchers, our assessments about the effectiveness of journaling are subjective. Since Jackie works in a school setting, I would love for her to answer you about children she has used this journal with for the school year. I am in private practice, so I use it "as needed." That is, as soon as I can get say a half dozen or so entries at a level, I jump right into role playing those kinds of situations, problem solving the situations from the standpoint of effective communication skills (e.g., brainstorming the kinds of language, preparation, nonverbal skills a situation requires. I also immediately begin to use the vocabulary of the child when I am having conversational counseling. For example, if a child is really into football, I study the jargon of the game, ask him for analogies between stuttering therapy and football, ask him for his opinions about the game, and so on. So, I use the journaling to make the therapy as real as possible right away in terms of activities and topics for speech sessions and opportunities to transfer skills to real life situations. Actually, it turns out that I am the one who benefits from the journaling because I learn so much. Recently, I am most grateful to one of my students for introducing me to football. I had no idea that it was such a complex game. Now, I really enjoy something in life that I ignored in the past.
Thanks, Judy Butler