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Based upon your experiences, what would you tell parents of children who stutter?
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Based upon your experiences, what would you tell parents of children who stutter?
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Based on my experience, every parent has his/her own path. Some can’t even say the word stuttering. I usually begin with the basics – that it’s OK to stutter and you’re not alone (both the child and the parent). For me, the toughest experience was feeling that I need to be fixed (and failing to do so), so I also tell parents to let the child know he or she is enough, and to be careful what they project on the child when stepping into any kind of therapy.
Thank you for your really important question.
I stutter and also have a daughter who stutters, although she is an adult now. The most important thing I realised about being a parent of a child who stutters is to see my daughter for who she is and not for how she speaks. I learned to put her stutter into the context of her life and see that there were so many wonderful aspects to her that it was important to try not to make her stutter the central part of her life. I also learned that being her ally and support was more important than trying find solutions to her stutter. I learned to trust her judgement on what she was and wasn’t able to do or deal with and I learned to take my lead from her and not try to always jump to try to make things better for her. I always made sure she knew I was there to help and guide her in all aspects of her life, including her stuttering, and that she didn’t have to face challenges alone, I mightn’t be able to solve everything but we could figure things out together.
It can be tough being the parent of a child who stutters. The main thing is keep them talking and be interested in what they have to say and not how they say it.
Veronica