Creating inclusive environments
How can society better support individuals with speech differences to create more inclusive environments? What were some of the methods that others have used to gain awareness and empathy for stuttering individuals?
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Hi Vianneydiaz,
At the moment a lot of therapy approaches see advocacy as an important part of the program. People and children who stutter learn how to advocate for themselves and stuttering. It makes them stronger and teaches others about stuttering and the stuttering individuals, so they can show people what they as a person who stutters need and bring more awareness to the people who don’t stutter.
You might want to look into the CARE program or Transcending stuttering for example
At this moment it is the same for apraxia, autism spectrum disorders, and so on.
-Manon-
Hi,
This is such a great question and not so easy to answer since there are so many possibilities. Here are a few suggestions…. Society needs more information, education without a doubt! We need more visibility and representation. We need to hear more stuttering, see more stuttering for it to be normalised. STAMMA (in the UK) have a great campaign showing people who stutter mid stammer, with a caption linked to breaking down stereotypes and misconceptions. Have you seen it? Stuttering needs to be heard on the tv and radio and seen as a way that some people speak.
There are many awareness events that can be arranged – like ISAD, people advocate and raise awareness on social media. I attended an event last week organised by the SLT Society at Leeds Beckett University in the UK. They invited teacher training students along, which I thought was a fabulous idea to pave the way for our future teachers to be stutter-aware.
There is some research by Michael Boyle which talks about the different ways to reduce stigma through contact, education or protest. Personally, I feel that people benefit so much from contact with people with lived experience and learn tremendous amounts in the process. This is why, I always like to work collaboratively with the children and young people, as their voices matter so much. My children will join me when I offer teacher training, for example, or make videos about what they want caregivers to know about stuttering.
I’d always chastise myself in the past for never feeling like I was doing enough or doing things big enough to make our environments more inclusive of speech differences. Now, I see that small gestures at a very local level can have a beautiful impact and can also at times, create a ripple effect. So now, I’m happy if I have a conversation about stuttering with a friend/acquaintance or gently challenge something that I observe.
Good luck in your advocacy work – we need people like you to continue to make a difference!