WORKING WITH SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN WHO STUTTER

Course overview

This course is intended for SLPs who work with school age children who stutter. We will cover treatment of stuttering. We begin with two assumptions: that stuttering is a motor speech disorder with a neurological base, and that once past eight years of age, most students who stutter will probably do so for some time. In other words, we cant cure stuttering or make it go away. For the SLP, this is liberating, because now we get to focus on what we do very well: teach communication-improving strategies to students with motor speech disorders. For many children past age eight, fear of stuttering and wanting to avoid it become a primary part of the disorder. Therefore, this presentation will treat the subject of working with children who stutter from a comprehensive approach, meaning we will highlight treating a child's attitudes and emotions as well as his speech behaviors. The presentation will include group participation as we learn to look stuttering in the eye, to encourage ourselves and our students to study this perplexing and interesting behavior as junior scientists. The instructor, a practicing SLP and a person who stutters, will spend the bulk of his time on practical speech and attitude management tools that have proven useful to children who stutter. Objective Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to: Define a comprehensive approach to treating school age children who stutter; Demonstrate several kinds of stuttering behavior; Name the basic elements of a comprehensive treatment plan for a student who stutters; List two goals that might be involved in working with school-age children who stutter; Describe ten tools/approaches for dealing with stuttering behaviors; Name three support groups helpful to people who stutter and their allies.