Helping Children Who Stutter Become Their Own Advocates

by Michelle Roberts and Judy Kuster

This is Michelle and Judy's project for speech clinicians to use with some children in elementary school, to help them educate their classmates and parents about stuttering. Bill Murphy writes, "It is important for children who stutter to learn how to talk about their stuttering. and the classroom is a great place to begin to teach this process. In most cases it is important to have the child be a part of the class discussion." (personal correspondence, September 24, 1998). Bill has also provided a helpful paper Class Visits For Children Who Stutter for additional information. If this an appropriate goal for your student, feel free to use these pictures. Speech clinicians can use the pictures to suggest messages the student can share with others. The pictures are designed so that the possible message is seen only if you scroll down. That way you can brainstorm possible messages with your student if you want. At the bottom of the screen is a link that will lead to a full-page copy you may want to print out and have your student color before presenting the information to others. Some of the pictures were inspired by David Shapiro's A Way Through the Forest: One Boy's Story With a Happy Ending - information that Dr. Shapiro wishes he could tell his speech therapist from 25 years ago.

If you have other messages that you feel would be appropriate and could be easily illustrated, feel free to share your ideas. Also, please share any experiences your students had using these pictures.