Broken links in this blog were removed today.
When I began this writing in 2008, it was an attempt to think about disfluency. Writing is thinking.
My graduate school course in disfluency back in 1980 was a student-led exercise. Groups of classmates researched and presented on a variety of therapeutic approaches. In 1983, when I was lucky to land a job, I treated very few clients with fluency issues. Ditto when I changed employers. Nevertheless, I attended a two-week intensive program at Northwestern University sponsored by The Stuttering Foundation, mostly because I loved to study topics in depth. That was such a gift!
When I moved and my new home state would not accept my teaching certificate, I took a chance on treating only children with disorders of fluency in my private practice. This turned out to be a roller coaster ride. I attended conferences around the country both for persons who stuttered and for speech language pathologists. The diversity of opinions was mind-boggling. When the American Speech Language Hearing Association created a Speciality Recognition for Fluency and Fluency Disorders, I was ready with credentials, experience, and commitment. Maintaining speciality recognition status required documentation of hours treating persons who stuttered and attendance at continuing education workshops. (When I traveled to attend a conference in Toronto, Canada and forgot to turn in my paperwork on site, I was denied credit for it. Live and learn.) I gave workshops locally and nationally. I wrote Clinical Nuggets for International Stuttering Awareness Day online conferences. I donated products from The Stuttering Foundation to many local school districts.
I helped improve the communication skills of some children. But I wondered if most families were too busy and children too immature to make significant change. I required a parent attend every therapy session, and yet, birthday parties, sports, and other life events took priority. Cancellations were not uncommon. Parents generally wanted their children fluent asap, and I could not deliver. At the same time, I watched the profession walk back from fluency goals and turn to ones of acceptance and communication instead. In the end, I felt that some of the best speech therapy I ever did was when I left the profession and did after-school child care for one of my young clients. I walked the walk - and that did not include requests for fluent speech.
As I review this blog of 83 dated posts, I'm sorry to find so many broken links. However, I'm pleased with the content. In the sometimes contentious context of the profession, I didn't fully appreciate that I was offering something of quality to the conversation with this blog. I was just working, one day at a time, one client at a time, one conference at a time, one blog post at a time. Maybe you'll find something of value here.
My newest interest is at Books Too.
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