Stuttering Support Group
Stuttering is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by prolongations, repetitions, and blocks of sounds, syllables, words or phrases. Give advice, share your story, and find any support you might need here.
Hello!
My name is Nicky, and I am studying how to be a speech pathologist. I am starting to work with people who have a stutter soon, and even though I know the theory , I would really appreciate it if you could maybe give me advice on how to make my clients feel safe and secure with me when I am getting to know them and during therapy :)
I am patient, kind and not judgemental AT ALL- in fact, I have heaps of respect for those who have a stutter and think you are very brave for soldiering on :)
Please, I would really appreciate any feedback!
Many thanks!
The advice that I always give to people who would like to make a stutterer feel at ease is, always let them finish their thought. Nothing annoys us more than when people finish our sentences for us. Please be patient.
Also, ask about the stutterer's background. What are their likes and dislikes, what are they interested in, etc. Sometimes we just like to talk to speech pathologists about things other than stuttering. It's one place where we can let loose and just speak because we know we're not being judged in that environment, in fact, we're kind of expected to stutter. Hell, that;s why we're there!
Finally, I would ask what the stutter's biggest challenges are regarding speech. Where is he or she most comfortable speaking? Where are they most uncomfortable? Does the stuttering become worse in certain situations? Is it better or worse when speaking to certain individuals, i.e. a boss, family member, the opposite sex, the same sex?
I hope this helps, and I wish you the best of luck!
Thank you so very , very much! I am definitely going to apply everything that you said!