Children Who Stutter Speak Out to Build Awareness, Confidence

This past March, seven children who stutter spoke to a crowd that included their parents and 50 graduate students in an effort to deepen others’ understanding of how stuttering affects their lives. They facilitated this “Increasing Stuttering Awareness” event with me and Northwestern University graduate students studying speech, language and learning. The event was held at the Northwestern University Center for Audiology, Speech, Language and Learning (NUCASLL). The children led presentations on important aspects of stuttering and concluded with a Q&A session. The idea for the event came from one of them who asked a simple question, “Why don’t more people know about stuttering?” This inquisitive child and I decided to increase awareness of stuttering, starting with our NUCASLL community. The children collaborated with their student clinicians on what they felt was important to share regarding their own stuttering. To prepare, the children created a speaking situation hierarchy to set themselves up for success. They all identified similar steps to take to achieve their ultimate goal of speaking in front of a large group: Practice speaking in speech sessions Practice in front of family Practice in front of two or three unfamiliar people Practice in front of a small group of unfamiliar people Practice in front of a large group of unfamiliar people During sessions, the children determined which step(s) they felt ready to target. When working on these ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Academia & Research Health Care News Private Practice Slider Speech-Language Pathology Fluency Disorders Speech Disorders stuttering Source Type: blogs