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From: Jaime Hannan
Date: 05 Oct 2010
Time: 07:30:40 -0500
Remote Name: 74.83.213.115
Jacy, congratulations on picking an amazing field!! I see that Scott gave you some thoughts about being a PWS and working with other PWS. I figured that I would jump in and give you some thoughts about being a person who does not stutter, but who works with PWS. When I was in graduate school (which was not too long ago), I had the opportunity to work with a client who stuttered. Looking back, I realized that we were in "the same boat" in a lot of ways. I did not know that much about stuttering and neither did she (she had never talked about it before). So, after some initial fears and thoughts like "How is she going to trust me, since I don't stutter?" or "How can I help her if I don't 'truly understand'?" I jumped in and we began to explore and learn about stuttering together. I began to realize that even though I didn't stutter, I felt many of the same feelings and had many of the same thoughts that she did...they were just about other situations or experiences in my life. At at least one point in our lives, we have all felt scared or worried or embarrassed...and regardless of what sparked those feelings...we felt them, we experienced them, and we learned from them, right? So, we can share them. One of the most important things that I have learned about being a clinician in general is that you need to look at your whole client, which I feel means that not only do you treat the specific disorder, but you also look at how that disorder is affecting your client's life. Also, especially when working with clients who stutter - you need to work on building a trusting clinician-client relationship...and you need to be willing to put yourself out there as much as you are asking your client to do so. Let's say you want them to ask for directions, well, then you need to ask for directions while stuttering as well. Good luck with your schooling and if you ever have any questions, feel free to email me at jaime.hannan@cchmc.org. Also, remember...you clients will always teach you more than you teach them...never stop learning from them! Jaime.