Question for PWS
I am an undergraduate student majoring in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology. As I learn more and find out where I fit into these fields, I know I will be encountering and working with people with stutters. I have a couple questions that I feel could be best answered by an individual with first-hand experience.
- What clinical professionals have you seen or worked with regarding your stutter?
- What are some tips for effectively interacting with PWS in a way that makes them feel comfortable and confident?
Thank you for the insight!
People who stutter are really no different from anyone else. Yes, they have a speech fluency problem but they will also have talents, skills, and perhaps a higher IQ than the SLP they visit once a week.
This is particularly true if the SLP’s client is in their twenties or older. And yes, their speech dysfluency might mean they have low self esteem, feel the world is against them, that they’ve been dealt a bum hand but then the fluent person who looks like the back side of a bus or has difficulty counting past ten might also have the same low self esteem issues.
In other words, none of us are perfect, we all have faults, problems, idiosyncrasies but if you stutter it’s a little more obvious to the outside world and usually far less easy to disguise or hide.
I guess what I’m alluding to here is you interact with us just like you’d interact with anyone else in your social circle. We don’t ask for special treatment, don’t want to be pitied but do want to be heard just like everybody else does. Most young folk who stutter just want to be fluent like everybody else around them and it can be depressing when they discover that whatever fluency they might achieve takes time and a lot of hard work and even then it may not be worth it.
Confidence is the secret ie the confidence to communicate with the outside world even though you stutter. You need to learn not to be embarrassed about your speech, understand that you too have something to contribute, that people will wait to hear what you say and then that’s half the battle won.
So, and sorry to be so long winded, show your client respect, empathy and understanding, just like you’d show your best friend and you’ll do just great 😎
Upbringing, culture, society, religion, personality, all of these things play a part. So to know where to start, you will need to find out who and what we bring to the table. It might seem like the hardest part, but once you’ll get to know your client and s/he offers you the trust to open up, you’ll find a true connection with your client and can work together (as you have the tools, but the client is the expert on his/her own stutter). So I’d like SLPs to start by listening and to think out of the box. Listening, because stuttering is so much more than what you see and hear. Stuttering is in our minds, hearts and the rest of our bodies as well.
In my keynote speech for the ISA World Congress http://stutteringiscool.com/podcast/therapy-smorgasbord/ I spoke about stuttering treatment being a smorgasbord. As PWS are such a huge variation of people, all with a different stutter, a different background, with different experiences AND with different wants and needs, there is no one therapy for all. One might want fluency, another might want confidence, the third might want public speaking skills, the fourth might simply want relaxation. A multi-disciplinary approach, with not just clinicians, but also using yoga, song, mindfulness and massage might do the trick. Just like going to the gym is not for all. Sometimes the tools aren’t right, sometimes the clinician/trainer, sometimes the time isn’t right. So by listening to the client and, together with the client, find a smorgasbord of activities to pick from, and maybe invite a friend to the therapy room to help your client with the challenges and exercises outside the therapy room might be the key. (Just as it’s more fun to do tough things together with a friend.) So, give the client a smorgasbord, explain the different “dishes” and let the client pick and choose and give it a try. It’s the combination of “flavors” that can make the perfect “dish”. 🙂 Being in this “kitchen” together, client and clinician, makes a team and can maybe create new “dishes”, instead of a teacher-student situation where one simply does what he is told, leaving the room with a sigh of relief. And what is more rewarding than for a client to feel proud and wanting to keep on expending comfort zones and new speaking levels, and for the clinician to watch and cheer the client, you’ve been coaching, reaching new levels. 🙂 The books need to be rewritten, from counting stuttered syllables, risking to silence the client, to counting life successes, as that’s what really matters.
So keep them talking
Anita