building confidence in younger kids
Hello! I am currently a graduate student at SFA studying speech language pathology! I am at an elementary school right now and have the sweetest little 1st grader who needs a confidence boost. He is comfortable and talks freely during our sessions, regardless of his disfluencies (it makes us so happy to see him talking freely). However, as soon as we leave the therapy room and he goes to class, he goes mute. His teachers have expressed concerns about this. My question is, how can I help this child build his confidence and not feel trapped by his stutter? I would appreciate any feedback and would love to hear previous experiences if you have been in a similar situation.
Hi,
Thank you for your question and for your kindness in trying to help the 1st grader.
Firstly, I think having you as an advocate will help him enormously, if he knows that you have his back whether he stutters or not will really give him a good safety. I also think if he knows that even if he intends or tries to speak, whether he actually does or not, he is doing great.
Speaking as a person who stutter and a parent of a young person who stutters I have experienced different aspects of speaking in front of class. I think taking tiny steps to build up his confidence is something that he might try. So, with the agreement of the teacher, a couple of ideas might be that he puts his hand up in class but the teacher thanks him for putting his hand up asks him if he wants to answer, if he doesn’t that’s fine. This brings him one step close to speaking. He might move on to agreeing to speak if his friend or the child sitting beside him also stands up at the same time. That means all eyes are not on him. He could then maybe work up to having a signal with the teacher for when he would like to speak or answer a question. Another idea if he has a problem with time pressure is that, again with the agreement of the teacher, he gets to speak at the start of the day so he is not waiting and anticipating all day and building up fear. Each tiny step is a huge step for him and will get him closer to speaking in class. You might even try role play with him both as himself and the teacher. I think helping him to take the mystery and fear out of speaking in class may help.
I hope this is of some use and he is lucky to have a thoughtful SLP like you.
Veronica
Hi Erin
Unfortunately his reaction shows that he’s used to other reactions and feels shame and frustration. Stuttering on itself makes a person tired and tense in the body. But otherwise it’s not something that is a problem. Unless others turn it into a problem, into something “wrong”.
People who don’t do what to do: wait, be patient and show you are listening. This goes for teachers as well as students. Talk rather than asking. Give him time alone with the teacher or with some classmates. Make sure the speaking situation in class also means listening to others, no matter how long time it takes. Maybe he can present by using IT, f ex recording himself to show his skills, giving him the opportunity to erase and try again, and not have all eyes on him in front of the class. Make sure the teachers don’t “assume”, but that they really ask the CWS how they can help, and can come up with suggestions, as many think stuttering isn’t a problem, without realizing that it may not be so to them, but it may very well be so for the student! Also parents play a huge role here, as they can claim the right to get proper help and adjustments, according to national AND international laws and human rights.
Tell him how great he is at things, so that he can focus on what he’s good at. Give him the words to tell other people what stuttering is and what he wants them to do. Also give him the words to meet bullies “You can imitate me, but I’m still the expert on stuttering”. Get him buttons and t-shirts with a positive stuttering quote on. For fun material, check out StutteringIsCool, with buttons and a fantastic cartoon book. Also the booklet I Just Stutter is a great help to understand, and explain what stuttering is about. Show him video clips on TikTok and similar from f ex Marc Winski, Sam Wiggins and other kids who stutter with pride. And best of all: get him to children camps! It makes me feel so sad that he, at the age of 5, already has all these feelings and experiences. So please help him to get positive feelings.
Most stuttering associations have free material. Give people broschures, send people links. Leave a bunch at his (pre-)school. Bring a PWS to the class to talk about stuttering and what teachers and classmates can do to help, as many of them might not understand or think that what they are doing is “helping”. Help us to raise awareness, as many don’t understand and do and say things that might seem helpful, but that working the opposite way. I also hope that his parents will do the same. As what a CWS needs the most is acceptance and loads of love and appreciation for who his is and what he does.
And last but not least: tell teachers to keep an eye open for bullying, as this doesn’t have to be verbally, but it can also be being ignored, not invited, etc.
Thank you so much for caring <3
Anita