The Development of Self-Advocacy in PWS
Hello! My name is Cadyia Pugh and I am a current SLP graduate student. I was just curious about any opinions on the development of self-advocacy in PWS. I personally believe that this has become a huge and crucial part of our field, making me personally wanting to continue to spread these self-advocacy strategies on! I just wanted to know if there were any suggestions or opinions on how to go about using/sharing these strategies (especially with adolescents since I am currently doing a placement in a hs). Thank you in advance!:)
Cadiya, I believe disclosure is one particular strategy that many of my clients have benefitted from, including adolescents. This may include disclosing to teachers that you stutter at the beginning of the school year, or disclosing that you stutter before a classroom presentation or before a job interview. I often explain to my tweens/teens that most people don’t understand stuttering, including their teachers, so it’s helpful when we are able to educate them so they learn to respond in more helpful ways. When disclosing to teachers, the tween/teen can decide if and how they do it, and we explore/discuss the information that the individual finds important to share with their teachers (e.g., what stuttering is, what stuttering is not, what’s helpful, what’s not helpful to that individual, if reasonable accommodations are needed, and so on). The important component is learning to be more open about their stutter, which generally translates to less worry and less head space being devoted to whether or not they might stutter. A student whose mind is constantly filled with fear of talking due to fear of stuttering is a mind that is not present for learning, so tangible actions that minimize worry and fear are important to consider.
Hi Cadyia,
I also believe as you do that promoting self-advocacy strategies for teenagers is a crucial part of improving their confidence and overall communication skills. There are several ways to develop it. However, it is worth keeping in mind that you should be attentive and follow the teenager’s lead while you are working with him /her. To begin with, pay attention to what his/her attitude toward stuttering is and how much he/she already knows about it. It’s a good idea to encourage your clients to explore current knowledge about stuttering. Especially confronting the concept of stuttering as neurodiversity can be a very helpful experience. You can also advocate that they expand their knowledge with a variety of sources (Lucky for you in English, the resources are endless, it’s worse in other languages). I usually try as much to urge teenagers to take action and go beyond their comfort zone. For example, we organize seminars or presentations together with the individuals who stutter to share their personal experiences and self-advocacy strategies with my teenaged clients. I try to convince my clients to apply their creativity, like writing, art or music to express their experience with stuttering and to share it with their family or friends, or people they trust. It is essential to collaborate with them and other educators in their school settings to foster open communication and stuttering acceptance. Most of all, we try to celebrate every indication related to promoting self-advocacy skills.
Thank you so much for such deeply empathic and meaningful question.
Kasia
Congrats for doing a placement in a high school. We need good people like you for our adolescents . That was one of the worst periods of my life as a person stutters. You’ll definitely want to introduce your teenagers to another organization like FRIENDS. They will be able to see other people like themselves through virtual support groups or attending a conference. Providing books about people who stutter is another good way to help someone understand advocacy. Check out the Scatman John on Spotify or other music platforms. Teenagers may connect with his music that talks about stuttering.