Introduction to Stuttering & Working with Families of Children who Stutter

 I want to talk about our goals for today’s session and for the rest of the week.  Today’s objectives include identifying the role a parent plays in how a child experiences stuttering and describing how to develop a blueprint for performing the initial interview of parents of children who stutter.  I will talk about some of the underlying causes and risk factors associated with stuttering and then Brooke will focus more on the roles that parents play, the interview process and how we interact with parents in the therapy process to build relationships.

Other goals for today are describing how to properly educate families on stuttering.  I think all of us who are part of this series would agree that is one of the fundamental roles that we play as speech language pathologists who work with families of children who stutter.  Having that effective therapeutic relationship with a client is critical to progress.  But when you work with children, it is ultimately about having a relationship with the entire family that makes the clinical process more effective.