Guest Post at Minds in Bloom: What Teachers Need to Know about Stuttering

I am so excited to be guest-posting today over at Minds in Bloom. If you have never visited Rachel Lynette’s awesome blog, you really should stop by. You’ll find tons of great ideas for educators.

My guest post is What Teachers Need to Know About Stuttering.  Many speech-language pathologists report they feel less than completely confident treating and supporting students who stutter. As a low-incidence disorder, many of us just don’t see dysfluency disorders that often. I may have 1-2 children who struggle with stuttering on my caseload (which is currently at 65, yikes!) or none at all in a given year.

So when a teacher has a student in their classroom who stutters, they may have even more questions and concerns. Wonderful teachers (and parents too) who want to help may encourage their student to stop, slow down, think about it, or start over. (Thank you Nina Reeves for teaching me the pitfalls of that advice!) They may be unknowingly creating more speaking pressure, and actually setting up a situation that may lead to increased stuttering.

Teachers want to know: What causes stuttering? What can I do to help? Should I remind him/her to use their speech tools? Does it help if I finish his thought for him when he gets stuck? Is it better not to call on her in class at all?

Head over to my guest post and read my tips for teachers, and please share if you have a teacher with questions about stuttering.

To help teachers establish classroom communication rules that support struggling communicators, I created a free poster. You can download Classroom Talking Rules at Speech Sprouts on Teachers pay Teachers.

Stuttering is a topic near and dear to me, as my grandfather stuttered. It was so misunderstood at the time, and often still is. Who hasn’t seen the King’s Speech? (Loved that movie.) Can you imagine putting marbles in the mouth to improve fluency? What were they thinking?

What are your experiences with stuttering therapy and support? Do you have any additional tips?  Questions? I would love to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by!