Graduate Student Questions
Hi everyone! As a graduate SLP student I have a few questions. My first questions is, what would you like students, clinicians or anyone in the general public to know about stuttering? My second question is, what advice would you give to a young PWS? My last question is, what advice would you give to a parent of a child who stutters that may not have the best attitude or understanding of stuttering? Thank you!
Hello Morgan!
Thank you for your questions and I hope you’re enjoying the conference.
To your first question, what I’ll want the general public to know is that stuttering is just another way of talking. As the saying goes, “it takes two to stutter”, your attitude and reaction to a person stuttering can determine how they feel about themselves and how well they even succeed in other aspirations of life. I would want people to focus on my ‘communication’ and not necessarily my ‘fluency’. And most importantly, do not label me by my stutter, but rather look on my good qualities and strengths. For clinicians, stuttering differs from one person to another; get to understand the specific needs and cultural differences of your client in order to offer the best possible therapy.
What advice would I give to a young PWS? I’ll advice that do well to accept your stutter and stutter confidently. Honesty is very much cleansing for the soul; you take unnecessary pressure and anxiety off you when you learn to accept your stutter.
For parents, I’ll advice that you read and learn more about stuttering in order to understand the complexities of it to support your child. Support starts from home, therefore if the firsthand support is not coming from you the family, the child is likely to suffer outside. Join a parents support group near you for help from parents like you.
I hope this helps Morgan.
Best,
Elias.
I wish the general public could fully understand that stuttering is just a different way of talking. It’s helpful to raise awareness and educate about stuttering, but we don’t do that for fluency, right?
If stuttering is just seen as a human variation just like any other one, and that stuttering is part of diversity, then there is really no need to do a general public awareness campaign.
Pam