Older Population
Hello! My grandfather is a person who stutters, and he has struggled his whole life with confidence because of it. He tells me he did not have the resources growing up that people do not to focus on enhancing fluency and building confidence through that. This made me wonder, what are some strategies speech-language pathologists can provide to help people that haven’t had the resources or ability to receive counseling and strategies to improve their confidence from their stutter in the past, specifically with the older population who may not have had the access that we do now?
Hi Emily,
I am happy to say that the stuttering community is rich with resources in the form of stuttering support groups. The National Stuttering Association had adult support groups and many other countries have support communities. I am a chapter leader for an adult chapter and I feel it is never to late to join this group. I have members from 18 to 78 and they are there to help each other navigate this complex journey. I like to say…”You come to the support group the first time for yourself. You stay throughout the years to help others.” Many countries have such programs and I will let the other professionals weigh in on those. It is crucial to learn–as a person who stutters– that you are not alone.
As Rita said, support groups are a great way to let people in any age or stage of life feel a sense of belonging to a community, learn from and get inspired by others and teach valuable things to others in the community as well!.. and confidence finally stems from this sense of belonging and knowing that you have so much in you to give that you never even knew of!
Resources such as self-help books and blogs from sources such as Stuttering Foundation and STAMMA help as well. And in my opinion, it’s never too late to start some direct intervention techniques if the person so wishes.. to help reduce the struggle and stress related to speaking.
And then of course, there’s this wonderful conference that you could help your grandfather log in to and read away! Maybe he could drop a comment or two as well…we would love to hear from him!
Regards
Pallavi
Hi Emily!
Thank you for your question!
I very much support the note from Rita. In Norway as well, there are several active members of the Norwegian Association of stuttering and cluttering who may be defined as ‘old memebers’. We also have the opportunity to collaborate with the ‘older population’ through our Norwegian health support system, and this service is free of charge.
Some years ago we did run a project, in which we were collecting stories from ‘older adults’ who stutter. These stories were collected in a book entitled ‘Ord til besvær: Livet med stamming’ (free English translation: ‘Trouble words: My life with stuttering’).
I think it is important to remember that the older population with stuttering is an important group, and which need to be seen and heard too.