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From: Jaan Pill
Date: 10/11/01
Time: 6:16:19 AM
Remote Name: 154.20.75.28
I would add that, in order to change stereotyped and erroneous attitudes, public education about stuttering has to be directed as much toward children as toward adults.
In this regard, the British Stammering Association, among other ISA member associations, is doing first-rate work in addressing the problem of teasing and bullying of schoolchildren who stutter.
Addressing this problem involves explicit instruction about what children should “do” and “not do” when interacting with classmates who stutter.
I would also wish to bring attention to Marilyn Langevin’s presentation in this ISAD online conference. The presentation, entitled Helping Children Deal with Teasing and Bullying, is just before the paper about the International Stuttering Association.
In particular, I wish to bring attention to the following excerpts from comments by Marilyn Langevin, from the questions and comments section of her paper.
First, she speaks of methods of implementation of the anti-bullying program that she has developed for use in public schools:
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There have been many different methods of implementation. Some examples: In a local school district one person is delivering the program to all grade 5 students in that district.
In another school district, schools within it have adopted the program as a school wide initiative, with modifications made for the younger children (k –2) and the older children (grades 6 – 7). In another school, three teachers are instructing the children that they teach each year in grades 3, 4 and 5. And in another school district some counselors are using the program solely while others are drawing from it and incorporating the material with other programs.
There are many different methods of implementation. I just received an invitation to speak at a parent council meeting of a school in which the program was adopted as a school wide initiative. The parents are now interested in the family/parent component of the program which is absolutely wonderful.
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Another excerpt from Marilyn Langevin’s discussion that I want to bring attention to is the following comment from her in response to a question about the role that national and international stutterers’ organizations can play with regard to dealing with teasing and bullying. She comments as follows:
************** Some ideas are: putting on teasing/bullying workshops for children who stutter at National conventions, inviting children to write articles for newsletters, and possibly having workshops to help children become their own advocates (with support and consent of their parents of course) and advocates for others in terms of doing their public education work within their schools. This is an issue that will need re-addressing over the years to come. I understand that there have been teasing/bullying discussions and workshop at national conventions and many state or local self-help meetings and conferences. I will be happy to work with any organization who is interested in developing materials, workshops, etc.
END OF EXCERPTS FROM MARILYN LANGEVIN’S COMMENTS
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