As school approaches, parents and students may face anxiety and fear of being ridiculed or teased during the new school year. This is especially stressful for the child that stutters. Five percent of all children will go through a period of stuttering lasting six months or more. Most will out grow the condition. Only 1% continues into adulthood, accounting for 3 million American adults who stutter.
The Stuttering Foundation has published a new brochure to address the issue of stuttering in the classroom, providing guidance for teachers and caregivers. The brochure addresses: teasing, reading aloud, calling on the child in class, and other concerns that teachers face on a routine basis when a child stutters in the classroom.
Preschool and Kindergarten children are still learning to talk and often make speech mistakes, or disfluencies. This is normal and even expected within the age group. For older elementary children, these disfluencies may be the beginning of a speech difficulty often referred to as stuttering. They may repeat and prolong sounds, struggle with speaking, and become tense and frustrated in their attempts to express themselves orally. These children need help.
Any time teachers are concerned about a child’s fluency,” notes Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation, “they should consult with the school speech clinician as well as the parents to make sure their approach to the child’s speech is consistent.” She advises teachers, “Talk with the child privately and reassure him or her of your support; let them know that you are aware of their stuttering and that you accept it – and them.
Teachers often have questions about how to handle speaking and reading aloud in the classroom and struggle with other students who may tease the child who stutters.
The Stuttering Foundation offers these tips for teachers.
1. Talk with the child privately and explain that talking is just like any other skills we learn and that making mistakes is okay, and with practice it will improve.
2. Until the child has had adequate time to adjust to the class, ask questions that can be answered with a few words.
3. Call on the child that stutters early in the discussion. Waiting and not knowing if he will be called on allows the child time to worry and tension to build making it even more difficult for him to respond orally.
4. Explain to the whole class that you want them to take their time and think through their answers, not just respond quickly.
5. Don’t tell the child who stutters to slow down or “relax”.
6. Don’t complete words or sentences for the child.
7. Emphasize the importance of listening when others are speaking. It is much easier for everyone, especially the child who stutters, when distractions and interruptions are kept to a minimum.
8. Maintain a relaxed and accepting attitude, speaking in an unhurried way with appropriate pauses.
9. Expect the same quality of work from the child who stutters as you do fro all students.
10. Assure students you are listening to the content of the message and not just how it is said.
11. Maintain a strict no teasing rule in your classroom that addresses teasing for any reason. Don’t single out teasing of the stuttering child as any different than any other form of teasing. Teasing is not allowed. Period.
12. Reading aloud may pose problems. Many children who stutter can read fluently when they read with a buddy. Try choral reading or buddy reading with all children in the class until the child gains experience with reading aloud. It may provide the confidence he needs to read aloud on his own.
The full brochure, The Child Who Stutters at School: Notes to the Teacher is available from The Stuttering Foundation. Call toll-free 1-800-992-9392 or visit their web site at www.stutteringhelp.org to download the brochure.
The Stuttering Foundation, located in Memphis, TN is a nonprofit organization that offers books and DVDs on stuttering, including a new DVD, Stuttering: Straight Talk for Teachers, available free online with video streaming.
Source: The Stuttering Foundation http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=147
