schooling
Hi,
With regards to stuttering and PWS I was wondering what do you think is one thing that you could have studied more in school that would have prepared you more for real world situations?
Thank you for your time,
~Allison
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Hello! This is an excellent question. I tell people all the time, that although my graduate program had a great course on stuttering, I felt like I truly learned how to treat individuals who stutter when I became very involved in the stuttering community itself. When I started to listen. I started to hear people’s stories, and realized that everyone has a different story and you can’t put stuttering therapy in a “fluency therapy in a box” on a shelf and get it out for everyone and make it work. Stuttering therapy is so individualized. Everyone has a different journey. Even the handouts we give, are so much more effective if we make them personal. For example, (handing the “tips for listening” handout to a parent) “Here is a great handout on some tips for listening to people who stutter while they are speaking. I know you really love to take nature walks with Johnny outside, so when you talk about the birds, strategy number 5 would be a super helpful strategy for you.” Any opportunity that you can make a generalized tool be personal is so effective. How many times have you gone to the doctor for neck pain that is so excruciating that you can’t sleep, you go to the doctor, and you leave with a generalized hand out that isn’t much help? How did that make you feel? Would it feel different to you if you left that same doctor’s office with some personal comments showing the doctor LISTENED? So, the take away from this long answer (because it is late at night) is LISTEN to people who stutter speak to you and share their stories. They are like gold and you can learn so much from them. Read the papers provided in this conference and previous conferences. That’s how I truly learned how to treat people who stutter… my coursework, readings and research were the roots of the tree… but my relationships with people who stutter became the stump, branches and leaves…