Future SLPA
What do you enjoy most about working with this population? How do you balance working on speech strategies while also helping clients develop confidence and self-acceptance?
What do you enjoy most about working with this population? How do you balance working on speech strategies while also helping clients develop confidence and self-acceptance?
Hi LO, thanks for your question!
I love working with people who stutter because it always keeps me on my toes! People who stutter experience stuttering in their own unique ways, therefore I am honored to continue learning and staying up to date on research to best serve this population.
I believe there can definitely be a healthy balance between working on speech strategies and helping clients develop confidence and self-acceptance. This is highly dependent on HOW you introduce strategies- they must be something that is introduced as temporary, and NOT a fix/cure.
My goal is to empower clients, and an empowered client is one that is educated on ALL modalities of treatment and can explore many different options, strategies included. It is our duty to present the entire toolbox and work with our clients so that they can choose which tools work best for them. It’s definitely a trial and learning situation.
Safety should be a priority when treating stuttering, many PWS carry trauma associated with other people’s negative reactions towards their speech. I have found that many people who stutter enjoy using strategies to help them feel safe during stressful communication situations when they understand them as safety nets rather than a permanent crutch and something to strive towards using forever. By establishing safety nets, you can empower your clients to continue striving to face communication and speaking challenges that empower them rather than re-traumatize them.
When keeping safety, empowerment, and autonomy in mind, I truly think strategies can be presented in a healthy way that reduces pressure on permanent fluency and reassures the client that they can have some control over how safe they feel during traumatic situations. These are great foundations to build trust with your client and progress toward more challenging situations where the strategies might not be needed anymore!
Thank you for responding. I learned so much from reading your response about how important it is to continue learning through research about this population, even while already in the field. I really like your perspective on strategies being safety nets rather than permanent crutches.
What a great question. What I enjoy are the small things, that are actually really big. This 9-year old that is so ashamed and frustrated about his stuttering that he hid under the table, pulled back and now…. today he gave me a big hug!! He goes on the street and tells others about stuttering, was so proud to hear that there is an International Stuttering Awareness Day. He told his mom she had to bake a cake! And he was allowed to think about the them, because he stutters, he said.
The adult that learns that he can let go, changes his life the way he had always wanted but was afraid to do it….
The adolescent that is always afraid to talk and quiet, never smiles and then, after a few sessions leaves your room with a smile you haven’t seen earlier.
What I enjoy is making a change together. These are all changes that have an impact that means so much to the person who stutters.
If it comes to streategies; they must be helpfull, but most of the times they are not really necessary. If confidence, trust, acceptance are there, strategies are no longer wanted most of the time. Sometimes people ask for strategies in certain situations, but it is always hard to maintain.
Manon
Thank you for answering my question. I love how you highlighted the importance of the small changes that can make such a big difference in the lives of people who stutter. As a future SLPA, I find it inspiring to see how building trust, confidence, and self-acceptance can help clients feel more comfortable communicating.
I love this field of work because it constantly challenges me to focus on the person seeking my help rather than on myself. Working with stuttering has allowed me to grow as a person and a professional, fostering a constant need to learn and the humility to put others first.
In my practice, the initial assessment and intervention sessions involve a gradual process of trying to understand what deeply motivates the individual or family reaching out to me. Through conversation, I can introduce strategies such as stuttering education and desensitization, and together we work on what makes sense for that person. For me as a therapist, the key is accepting and allowing the stutter, understanding that fewer negative reactions can lead to a more comfortable and enjoyable speaking experience. That is my guiding framework. I may incorporate certain speech strategies, but always while clearly explaining to my clients the importance of prioritizing communication and acceptance.
Hi LO,
I agree with Manon; empowering is also my first priority! We work a lot on this; having fun communicating, doing everything you want to do, and saying everything you want to say.
When it comes to strategies it becomes tricky. It differ what kind of strategies you mean. If you mean Fluency shaping or Stuttering modification, I think it is very difficult to combine this with empowering etc. The therapy tries to find a middle ground. People who stutter already got a ‘museum’ of strategies. Adding one more will not help in the long run (more recent research also shows this). Such a strategy is about not wanting to stutter, wanting more fluency; and that’s the opposite of empowering. When saying this people will say to you: clients ask for this, some clients really got stuck and need some help.
However, doing less (e.g. via ARTS approach) you can also consider a strategy. And that fits the empowerment message. So it really differs what you do. It can match, but dependent on what you do!
Joeri
The museum analogy is from Vivian Sisskin