Stick Up For Yourself!

Speech therapy goals often assume knowledge and experience that some families do not have. This post is about one of those areas: assertive communication. As soon as a child, teen or adult learns the basics of fluency shaping, stuttering modification, or any other new way of speaking, he needs to begin practicing outside the speech therapy room. This is sometimes called "generalizing" or "transferring" new skills to real life. Generalizing a new way of speaking requires assertiveness. For example, listeners need to be educated about what the new way of speaking is all about. It is going to sound different to them. They may be confused as to how to respond in helpful ways. The speech therapy student will need to initiate the conversations that will explain to others how to be supportive.

I've found that books written for children can make learning new information quick and easy for both adults and children. I really like books by free spirit publishing at http://www.freespirit.com . One good book for learning assertive communication is Stick Up For Yourself! Every Kid's Guide to Personal Power and Positive Self-Esteem by Kaufman, Raphael & Espeland. Perhaps you can find this book or others like it at your local library. I often purchase used books on topics such as this from Amazon.com or from library book sales and yard sales. Where ever you find books, now you can be on the lookout specifically for titles having to do with assertive communication skills.

In future posts, I will address other topics to help you understand stuttering therapy in a larger context.