BRINGING IT by Loryn McGill, M.S., CCC-SLP A Nonprofit Organization WIN TER 2018 Since 1947... Helping Those Who Stutter
When Brandon stepped into my office a few weeks ago, he did not know the word ‘stuttering’. Yet, surely in his own way, he did know it. It was the name of what caused him to struggle in conversations and to lose his breath; to add filler phrases in subconscious desperation, creating confusion for listeners when he talked. Other people could talk smooth and he talked bumpy. Previous speech therapy had attempted to teach him to “not stutter” and praised fluent speech.
In his world, he was the only person like him. WORLD SERIES MVP GEORGE SPRINGER:
A HOME RUN FOR STUT TERING THE HOUSTON ASTRO SPEAKS OUT ON HIS SPEECH EPIPHANY
As a Speech-Language Pathologist and Professor who exclusively works with people who stutter, I have seen what happens when we as professionals avoid talking about stuttering. We perform verbal dances and issue magic phrases to keep from using the word: ‘stuttering’. In so doing, we convey to children that what they are doing is bad. So bad that the mere use of the word ‘stuttering’ is taboo. The word becomes shame, pressuring the child to stop and reinforcing the great lengths many will go to in order to do so.
The struggle that Brandon exhibited in his speech was intense. Our first session was spent talking about stuttering and understanding everything that came with it. How it made his eyes look away, throat feel tight, and words feel scary. As he learned more that day about the word - ‘stuttering’ - he found himself on his way to becoming an expert on his own stuttering.
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