[Next]
From: Pete Smith
Date: 10/6/00
Time: 1:33:43 PM
Remote Name: 198.110.207.85
I don't know that stuttering is linked to reading problems but phonological awareness ability is strongly related to reading problems in young children. Activities which improve phonological awareness involve phonemic segmentation, blending, deletion, and other forms of manipulating sounds. Some forms of stuttering therapy also involved helping individuals "move through" speech with some fluency. I simply adapted some phonemic awareness exercises so the focus was on reading but the exercises were useful for fluency shaping. Fortunately these excises were also useful for Mom's speech since she had a rapid speech rate and needed some drills which would help her modify her speech. These activities then seemed to help both Jon and his mother and took of the focus off of speech. Jon had considerable difficulty with reading so we didn't work on writing. If memory serves me correctly Van Riper mentioned something about simultaneous writing and speaking as a useful technique back in the 1950s. Hope I responded to your comment appropriately. If not, give me another shot at it. Thanks. Pete