[ Contents | Search | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Dori
Date: 18 Oct 2004
Time: 10:00:38 -0500
Remote Name: 65.73.101.79
Hi Judy -- what great comments and questions!! I am so thrilled that you're going to hand out my paper to parents -- and I would LOVE to hear their reaction and if it helps them to make any sort of a shift. No doubt there are parents (too many) who won't make the shift, and will continue to leave their child's fluency issues totally up to you. That doesn't seem fair to you as the therapist. It leaves a big chunk of the puzzle out and I would think, puts limits on your effectiveness. It makes me very sad that you are offering the opportunity for additional support to parents and some are not taking it, but I've heard that from therapists before. So would I have accessed a library? If I had known I had anything to learn (ok, this was six year ago -- my shift wasn't complete!) I would have accessed information. I thought a speech therapist was a speech therapist was a speech therapist -- and they could fix it. I was being a great parent by driving him there twice a week. Once it started to dawn on me that things weren't playing out as I thought they would, I started to do my research. What I found for information for parents was, in my opinion, not near enough to begin to navigate the speech therapy world with any level of effectiveness. Information marketed to parents focused on modifying the home environment and speech relationship. Not that that isn't an important aspect, but it just wasn't enough. Because I'm a writer by profession, I decided that was the book that was needed -- something very accessible (written by a parent) that would give parents a big picture -- a context -- an introduction to the speech therapy world so they could begin to have effective, meaningful discussions. My hope is that having this type of accessible information might help facilitate a shift, at least for some parents, as the information they will be getting won't seem so foreign, and they will feel empowered to become a partner. Obviously this won't be the case for all parents, but we can only hope! So even though I still believe every therapist should have a breadth of information available in their lobby, they should be careful to make sure it's not too overwhelming and technical. And integrate parent reading goals into the whole therapy program (sometimes I need someone to hold my hand and walk me through it, especially if it's all new to me!). I believe strongly that once the wheels start turning, the shift starts to happen, it's pretty hard not to continue down that road! Congratulations to you on continuing to make yourself available to parents, even in the face of sometimes discouraging attendance. For those parents who are willing to partner, you are a Godsend. What would I want out of such a group? That's an interesting and timely question. A former speech therapist (the only one I really felt had a handle on this stuttering world) has just started a monthly support group. Last month was the first session. I didn't realize until we got there that it was only a support group for the kids. The parents were left alone together. I got there a little late, and it appeared that the topic of their children's speech had hardly been broached. I gently started the conversation and I will probably continue to facilitate some discussion. What do I want from the group? Ideally there would have been someone there to facilitate the conversation (looks like that might be me!?) and I would hear about situations they have faced and how they dealt with it, what other parents have read (or accessed on the Internet, video, etc…) that's been helpful. I would hear about their involvement with support organizations such as NSA, Friends, etc… and what they found helpful. OK, and maybe we would tear up a little, as only we know how rough this can be. But I would want to be empowered too. To leave feeling positive for my child, and knowing how important I am to his world. I would also want some time with parents and kids together -- so kids see their parents as part of the team. So we'll see how this evolves -- ask me the same question in about six months -- I might have a totally different answer. But I will be showing up this month with books I have found helpful (loved Marty Jeezer's "Stuttering, A Life Bound Up in Words") and information about our wonderful Baltimore experience (NSA) last summer and the upcoming one in Chicago in July 05. Just a start. Well, I've rambled on enough -- but your questions were so great! Hope my response is helpful. And again, I'm so thrilled that you would give out my paper to parents. It shows amazing integrity and a real genuine commitment to their experience! Thank you so much! Hope we can meet someday in person. Dori