Comments

Beginning Stages of Speech Therapy — 1 Comment

  1. Hey Mitchella!
    I really appreciate the efforts you’re taking for these children and I’m sure they’re doing great.
    How old is this child? I ask this because even children as young as 8 can actually tell you what it is that’s making it difficult for them to generalize, or creating an obstacle to their progress, and you’d be amazed at their clarity of thought! So that can be a good lead for you to decide how to proceed.

    Sometimes what we perceive as the obvious next step in therapy might be too big a step for the CWS. So breaking it down into even smaller steps could help. For instance, the child telling a short story, then a short story followed by a fun Q and A session, a short story followed by a competitive quiz, a short story followed by a competitive quiz and two new people in the session… and so on.

    Preparing the child (in detail, including how the scene would look like, what conversations might arise, how many people… Etc) and reminding them to use their easy speech techniques before they enter a speech situation, immediate feedback and a proportionate reinforcement right after, might help as well.

    Finally, I have to add (though I’m sure you must have it covered already) that the importance of openly communicating with the child about their thoughts and feelings arising out of different speech (and non speech) situations cannot be understated. The child you mention seems to be very aware of his stuttering already..so exploring how he felt before, during and after a difficult speaking situation, establishing throughout that it’s absolutely ok to stutter, focusing on the goal (buying groceries – and not speaking perfectly to the man across the counter) are things that should be an integral part of sessions, as well as conversations at home.

    That was a really long answer, but hope it helps!

    Pallavi