How to increase confidence in preschool child?
Hello Experts,
I am a speech-language pathology student at U of M, Duluth in an Advanced Fluency Disorders class. If you have a sensitive 5-year-old girl in your caseload with persistent stuttering, how your therapy will look like in term of increasing confidence; Do you have any suggestions to deal with this case?
I would say focusing on what she says and not how, and consistently reinforcing with her (and teaching the parents to) that she has good things to share, and you want to hear what she has to say. I like to tell kids when I’ve learned something new from them as well!
Dear Mohammed,
I believe that you build confidence with a reticent stuttering child just as you would any other reticent child. You need to make sure that the therapy setting is perceived by her as safe. How you do that depends on the child, and of course you must do the things Kathy mentioned. Therapy might take longer with a reticent child than with an extroverted child, but lasting progress will be greatly enhanced if she becomes comfortable with you, finds the experience positive, and feels that you are always on her side.
Ken