From: Lynne Shields
Date: 10/6/00
Time: 11:30:58 AM
Remote Name: 199.217.208.162
Thanks, Judy--so good of you to take the hint! The child I referred to in the paper and I made the videotape in late summer. I'll call him 'John' here. We enlisted the help of my two sons, aged 6 and 9, who happen to know John. My older son played the role of the teaser, and my younger son played John's friend. They had a blast setting up the scenes and acting them out under John's direction. He was pleased with the results, and took the tape home to show his mom. That was our last treatment session, as I was seeing him for therapy only during his summer break.
I saw his mom about three weeks ago, and she said, "Lynne, you've gotta hear what John did!" She said that he had come home from school recently and told her that a boy had approached him and asked him, "Do you stutter"? John spoke right up and said, "Yeah. Were you gonna tease me about it?" They boy replied right away, saying he just wanted to know. This was the first time John had a comeback for someone who said anything to him about his stuttering, and he felt very good about it. His mom said she was confident that participating in the role-playing and videotaping had helped John speak up for himself rather that feel badly about the encounter.
It was good to see John becoming more confident and proactive in dealing with reactions to his stuttering. And, thanks to you, Judy, for providing the vehicle on your Stuttering Homepage that helped John work this out.
Regards,
Lynne