Thursday, July 16, 2009

Teen stuttering -effective fluency programs available

We had our teen meeting last night and it was a great success. We had a great time playing stuttering jeopardy. I am proud to say that my clients won!! Yeah!! (not that I am competitive at all-LOL).

Parents often ask me why children and teens can't get stuttering therapy in the schools. I agree that they should but truth be told even if they were approved, they would be seen in a group with a variety of disorders. Caseloads in the schools are getting larger with more involved children needing help. Just like it is often necessary to hire a tutor, it is also necessary to seek a speech pathologist specializing in fluency therapy.

I have designed a program to be done in an intensive manner with monthly follow up. I have seen wonderful results with increased fluency. It involves alot of practice, but the skills I teach combined with confidence strategies to conquer public speaking and phone fears, to name a few, are highly effective. They are skills I wish I had when I was in high school. I went through school fearing stuttering and never raising my hand. I don't want anyone to suffer the same fealings of shame and isolation.

i would love to hear from any parents or school SLPs if they have had success getting therapy in the schools and if it was able to be done on an individuals basis. tks for reading. If you are teen, please e-mail me and come to our National Stuttering Association teen meetings. Also, please join the NSA (www.westutter.org). It is non-profit and a great organization.

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