Topics in Speech and Language: 2012

A Little About Me and This Blog

I have been a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) since 1987. I am a member of the American Speech and Hearing Association. I have worked in the states of New York, Hawaii and Florida. I am currently in New York State. I have worked in settings that include public schools, special education preschools, hospitals, adult day treatment programs, home health rehabilitation, early intervention and preschool homebased therapy. I have provided evaluation and therapy to people ranging in age from 6 months to 100 years. I have worked with a wide range of conditions and treatments including fluency, aphasia, apraxia, voice disorders, dysphagia, cleft palate, hearing impairment, articulation delay, language delay, augmentative/alternative communication, autism, and many others through the years.
The purpose of this Blog is to share information and answer questions that you may have. I will strive to provide the correct information to the best of my professional knowledge. I may not share the same professional opinion as other licensed speech pathologists and I encourage second opinions if you want to be as informed as possible.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

A Child Stutterer's Point of View

In the school district I work, there was a little boy who was extremely intelligent. He graduated high school two years early, after taking college courses. After graduating early he went to an Ivy League college. He was a severe stutterer. He attended speech therapy sessions because of this. I was not his therapist. While in elementary school he wrote a short piece about his own stuttering. It makes me re-think trying to change someone’s stuttering. It provides great insight that others his age and older might not be able to express:
“I do not mind my stuttering too much. Even if I did, I would not be able to notice the difference. Because I do not mind, I can’t understand why my parents do. Luckily though, I also do not mind the speech “lessons” that I have, allowing me to not become angry or frustrated. In the book I read, I do not understand much why so many kids do care about the stuttering that they have. I know that even if I could hear myself, I would not be the least bit upset over it. To me, it is nothing to worry about, but, to make everyone else happy, I try to stop and relax when talking anyways. Either way, I do not understand why it is bad or important in any way. As you can clearly see, to me, stuttering is no big deal. It is only as bad as a grammar or punctuation error in a set of meaningless sounds our society uses. What is so important about that?”

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month 2012

It has been two years since I have posted to this blog. I apologize to my followers who thought they had found a site to help them with understanding speech and language development and issues. It is my hope that I will again be able to provide some information for you soon. Please scroll through my previous posts to review or learn about the topics provided. It is the month to be aware of speech and hearing. Support your school speech therapists as well as those in private clinics, hospitals and the many other settings you can find them. Be aware and tolerant of those children and adults who are faced with challenges due to speech, language and hearing disabilities. The ability to communicate with others is one of the most precious abilities we have. Imagine if your ability to communicate was affected by loss of hearing, speech or the ability to understand and use language. Help those with problems in these areas any way that you can.