Being Seen Being Heard – A Short Video About Speech Therapy – Sam Wiggins

Sam WigginsAbout the Author:

My name is Sam, I am 12 year old and live in the UK with my mum, sister who is 14 and my 2 cats Henry and Tilly. I enjoy playing computer games, riding my bike, modeling and acting. I also enjoy talking about stammering to help other children like me.

The video is about my experience of speech therapy and explains what to expect during a speech therapy session. Here I talk about how it has helped me to be seen and heard and techniques I have used. 

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Comments

Being Seen Being Heard – A Short Video About Speech Therapy – Sam Wiggins — 23 Comments

  1. Thank you Sam! What a brilliant video! I have been sharing this with all the children I see in therapy for several reasons; first, to show what an amazing young man you are and we all hope to meet you in person one day–we know you will do great things in life! Second, to show how you embrace stammering/stuttering and talk about it with such ease. This is not an easy accomplishment. Finally, to see your connection with your therapist and you help us know the importance of this relationship.
    Thanks again!!

  2. hELLO sam , once again you have done an amazing job, other children are so lucky to have you as a role model, I am so proud of you xxx Phyllis.

  3. Hi Sam!
    Wow, thank you for sharing your experiences of how speech therapy provided you with support and various techniques that you are able to apply to your everyday life. As a future SLP who wants to work in a school setting, I hope I can adequately advocate for my students who stutter and create a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable environment for them to be seen and heard! Keep doing great things, and know you have many allies rooting you on!

  4. Hi Sam! Thank you for sharing your experience and joy for speech therapy! I am so happy you have had a wonderful experience and appreciate you being willing to explain how speech therapy helps you and does not try to “fix” you. Your video will be so helpful to other kids who may be weary of participating in speech therapy for their stammer. Great job advocating for yourself and explaining what helps you be successful. Thank you!

    – Haven

  5. Hey Sam,

    You are awesome!! I enjoyed watching your video. Thank you for sharing your experiences with speech therapy and the techniques you learned. That is great how you have such a helpful speech therapist to help you navigate your stuttering. I love your willingness to bring awareness by presenting here and in front of your teachers and peers. Stutter or no stutter the ability to public speak is very impressive! You are such an inspiration to many!

    Aside from your speech therapist, do you have any other role models in your life that have helped you grow in confidence with your stutter?

    – Clarissa 🙂

    • I have met some lovely people in the stammering Community. Some of the biggest influences have been Tom Scharstein from America and Michael Wright from the UK. They have really supported me.

  6. Hello Sam!
    Thank you for sharing your experiences with speech therapy! I enjoyed hearing about the creative techniques that have helped in your journey. A presentation introducing yourself is a great way to bring awareness, educate your peers and teachers, and show them that it is okay to stutter. Your confidence and willingness to openly talking about stuttering are inspiring. I feel that gaining the confidence to self-disclose is beneficial for promoting classroom participation and the generalization of what is learned in speech therapy. I’m a speech pathology graduate student, and your video reminds all SLPs of the importance of having a good client-therapist relationship because feeling comfortable working as a team is crucial to a successful treatment. Finally, I appreciate that you mentioned that the end goal of speech therapy is not to “fix” but to make progress toward each person’s unique goals, regardless of fluency.

    • Hi 😊
      Thank you. Yes I think it’s important that soee h therapist don’t try to fix people but work on helping people to accept who they are and help them to be confident

  7. Hi Sam! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with speech therapy, as a graduate student and future SLP it makes me so happy to hear that you have had a fantastic experience! I love the idea of doing a powerpoint presentation for your class every year so that your teacher/classmates know what stuttering is. I will definitely show your video to any of my future children who stutter who are feeling anxious about receiving speech therapy since you do such a great job of being reassuring. You are a wonderful role model!

  8. Hey SuperTrouper Sam!

    Also this year you make me so proud of you! Your advice is so clear and positive. I hope that many kids will find your video even after the ISAD, and use the advice you give, and feel safe to see an SLT. I also hope that many SLTs and parents will find your video and show it to other kids. I’m so happy we finally got to meet, and it surely won’t be the last.

    Huggies and keep talking, my friend

    Anita

  9. Hey Sam,

    Thank you so much for sharing this video of your experience in speech therapy. As a future SLP, I enjoyed watching a point of view of therapy from someone who has a stutter but also someone of your age. This is a great video that gives an encouraging message to a younger audience. I Also, like that you present ppt slides to your new classmates and teachers to introduce your stutter but also educating them. I love that! Thank you again for sharing your experiences.

    Best,
    Jessica

  10. Thank you for sharing, Sam! I think that you are a role model for children and adults. Your video was encouraging and would help to make any person feel more comfortable with starting speech therapy. Self-advocacy is so important. I love that you share PowerPoint slides at school to bring awareness and educate others. Keep up the great work!

  11. Hi Sam,

    My name is Falan and I’m in graduate student in college right now working so hard in the hopes that someday I can become just like the amazing speech therapist you talked about in your video. The way you speak of speech therapy and your therapist makes my heart so happy and I’m so glad that it has been able to help you over the years. I believe it is so important to spread the word that therapy is nothing to be afraid of or feel bad about. You have done a wonderful job speaking about therapy so that other children like you know that it can be a great experience. That is something to be very proud about Sam! As speech therapists, we want our clients to know how wonderful they are and that stuttering is a part of them to be embraced and loved. Thank you for your lovely video and keep being you!

  12. Thank you all for watching my video and for all of your lovely comments. It has been a pleasure to be part of isad 2022.see you next year ☺