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From: Lynne
Date: 05 Oct 2008
Time: 08:49:55 -0500
Remote Name: 76.215.118.209
Lisa, You cited one of my favorite sources for counseling, David Luterman. And, your question is an excellent one. When I evaluate a child who stutters, I ask that both parents be present, if possible. When I am working with the child by him/herself, I ask the parents to watch and make note of the kinds of behaviors they see, the stuttering behavior, the way the child responds and interacts with the clinician, and anything else that they notice. I later ask them to share their observations afterward, including whether or not they viewed the child's stuttering as having presented a sample of typical behavior at home, as well as whether or not they noticed or heard anything that surprised them. Since I am in a university clinic setting, and graduate students are sometimes working directly with the child along with me, I may sit out with the parents sometimes, asking these questions as parts of the evaluation proceed. At some point during the evaluation, I obtain information from the client and the parents via interview, and this is done either separately or with all together, depending on the family's preferences. When all of the information has been collected and observations made, I talk with the family (as do the students, if they have been involved) about what has gone on during the evaluation and summarize the findings. I ask the family (child and/or parents) to add anything that they think I have missed or overlooked that they think is important to them. I ask what questions they have and we talk about ways to proceed from this point. So, I do try to keep the family involved from the beginning, which sets the tone of involvement from the beginning, and, I hope, helps all of them to understand that they are an important part of the process. Thanks for your questions, Lynne