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From:
Date: 20 Oct 2004
Time: 10:27:03 -0500
Remote Name: 65.73.101.79
I think desperation helped me take charge -- we were spending a whole lot of time on the road and in speech therapy, he wasn't getting any better, and I didn't understand what was suppose to be happening! If we had been in school (we homeschool) and he was being taken out of class (where I wasn't doing all the driving and sitting) I may not have gotten so desperate. That, in itself, is scary, because we would never be where we are today, but it helps me understand how so many parents don't take charge. Only as of last month has a support group been created for children -- the only one in the entire state of Minnesota -- so the idea that so many support groups exist is erroneous. I know many therapists try to get them started and have problems getting people to attend. In fact, we attended last month, and this month my son was sick! So there ya go! We changed therapists five times because: Therapist #1: we had used up our allotment from the insurance company and he had stopped stuttering. Therapist #2: we had used up our allotment from the insurance company, and "I was suppose to know what to do because I had been through that before" as I talked about in my paper. Therpaist #3: The situation I described above -- lots of driving with no change. Therapist #4: We went for a year, he was lacking motivation, and it was a 45 minute drive each way, so we decided to take a break. Therapist #5: We had discovered a local therapist who was interested in treating stuttering, although her experience was limited. We tried it, he got much worse, and didn't like it, so we quit. That just happened a few months ago. That's where we are today! He's much more comfortable with the idea of his stutter -- although he still doesn't like it, and is taking on secondary behaviors. So I'm not sure where to go from here…… Future advice? Encourage parents to get involved (see advice in my paper) -- give them information that isn't too technical to get them on board with understanding therapy and what's gonig on with their child. Remember, this isn't their field. Their not dumb, just lack knowledge in this area. Most will assume that by bring their child to you, their bases are covered -- bad assumption -- and not fair to you as the therapist. Create a team and give it your best. And don't be afraid to ask for help from others with more experience if you don't have the answers.... Best of luck to you! Thanks for listening and for asking great questions! Dori