Question
How do we deal with avoidance behavior with children who stutter and how do we get them to open up about their feelings?
Answer
I don't have a straight simple answer about how you get kids to open up. But one of the things that I have found is that you can't get good information by asking an 8-, 9-, 10-, even 12 year old, "How do you feel about your stuttering?" The expression of feelings comes after working with kids to trust you and doing some activity to get them to open up, liked I discussed in the presentation. As kids begin to feel a little more comfortable with stuttering openly, you're probably going to see some of these avoidance behaviors begin to disappear. But if there is consistent avoidance, then we need to talk with them about why they're avoiding and what is so scary to say a particular word, speak in a particular situation or with a particular person. A lot of it has to do with talking through what fears they have and what positive things they could do to face those fears and avoidances.
This Ask the Expert was taken from the course entitled: Multidimensional Treatment Strategies for School-Age Children Who Stutter by E. Charles Healey.
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E. Charles Healey is a professor of speech-language pathology at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Healey is currently an ASHA Board Recognized Specialist in Fluency Disorders and an Associate Editor for the Journal of Fluency Disorders. He has published many journal articles and book chapters concerning adults and children with fluency disorders.
