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From: Scott Yaruss
Date: 10/6/01
Time: 1:54:46 PM
Remote Name: 134.29.30.167
Hi Judy - You've raised a good question, and I agree with Woody's response...
Perhaps the only thing I can add is that I always try to take a "long-term" view of stuttering and stuttering recovery...many times, when we're working with school-age kids, we feel an understandable need to help them NOW in order to prevent the development of negative reactions and minimize the negative impact stuttering may have on their lives in the future. As a parent myself, I understand exactly what you're saying about encouraging our kids, but not knowing exactly where the line is...
The problem with kids, of course, is that they don't typically see the "big picture" -- and parents, on the other hand, may ONLY see the big picture and miss out on the child's short-term successes...
SO, back to the long-term view, I feel it is NEVER too late for an individual to make progress with his or her speech or acceptance of stuttering. SO, even if you can't accomplish the goal you want now because the child seems to be accepting stuttering, that doesn't mean that there won't be an opportunity to do it later. If the child is okay with his speech -- if he is communicating in the real world, if stuttering has a minimal impact on the child's educational and social experiences, etc. -- then he is probably fine. Even better if the parent also feels this way...True, there is probably more that the child can learn to benefit his speech even further, and there may be a bit of denial going on about the real impact of the stuttering, but you'll have another chance to tackle that stuff in the future.
The way I see it, I'd rather not "overtherapize" a kid so that he gets bored and frustrated with therapy and closes the door to future progress...I want to help him accomplish the goals that he sees, even if they're not the goals he'll ultimately need to achieve, then help him along to the next step in the future, when he's ready.
Unfortunately "when he's ready" often means after the stuttering has had a negative impact, or the child has started to feel negatively about his speech. Just the same, though, you can't force a child to do something, particularly a teenager, if he or she doesn't see the value in doing it. That's where the negative impact becomes our ally, in that it provides the motivation the child needs. I wish we could do it sooner, but I haven't found a way to do that yet...
I'd look forward to any suggestions from my colleagues though -- this is one of the toughest issues -- we want to protect kids from feeling badly about their speech, but there's only so much we can do in advance...
FWIW, S