Support for parents/caregivers
Hello,
My name is Laci Richardson, and I’m currently in graduate school for speech-language pathology. I would love to know your advice on how professionals should go about supporting the parents of someone who stutters. In cases where parents are highly focused on their child’s stutter, but the child is aware of it and does not have strong feelings about it, how should an SLP guide the parents in supporting their child’s communication without making the child feel pressured about how they speak?
Thank you so much.
Laci Richardson
Hi, Laci, and thank you for asking this most important question!
I think it is really important for a speech-language pathologist to talk with the parents of a child who stutters, as well as working directly with the child who stutters (if he/she is aware of their stuttering).
It is so essential that parents are very patient, understanding, attentive, and respectful when a child is having fluency difficulties. The parent should not treat the child who stutters in any different way than a fluent child. They should not comment on the child’s speech difficulties – the child will get the message that his or her fluency difficulties are not of major concern.
Parents should only respond to the CONTENT of a child’s speech, on WHAT they say, rather than HOW they say it.
It’s also important for the parent not to make any sounds, gestures, or facial expressions while talking to the child that would suggest any discomfort, anxiety, or disapproval due to the child’s stuttering. The important thing is to react in exactly the same way as if the child was fluent. This also means no special words or phrases to attempt to help the child along, no guessing at the words a child is trying to say, no comments such as “take your time” or “slow down” or “you can do it”. This also means no special praise if the child is fluent, such as “you said that very nicely”.
All of that, even if it is meant in a positive way and is said with a positive tone of voice, can impart to the child an inner thought such as: “I’m different” or “I’m not normal” or “there is something wrong with me” – or perhaps worse thoughts such as “I don’t speak right” or “I’m speaking wrong”. These kinds of thoughts can be really risky to a child who stutters, and make it more difficult to develop more fluent speech.
If a child haa questions about his or her speech, these must be answered with great care. Emphasis must be kept on the positive side. For example: “Some people have trouble doing different things. I have some trouble with ____________________ . We are all different that way. You have some trouble speaking, and that is okay. In other things, you are really excellent. For example, you can ________ very well. You are really good at that! And we love you so much!”
I hope these suggestions have been helpful.
Good luck in your future career!
– Paul