Speech therapist who stutters?

Lady Bug

Fri, Jan 09 2015, 1:45 pm

Why would you discount a speech therapist based solely on a stutter? You might lose out on an amazing therapist. Yes, asking for a replacement is discriminatory and foolish, and just asking this question is discriminatory. If anything, this is an excellent opportunity to teach your child acceptance of all people.

amother

Fri, Jan 09 2015, 1:49 pm

Lady Bug wrote:

I'm confused. Won't it be much harder for the child to learn articulation etc from someone that stutters. If she was an ot or pt I would have no problem with it.

amother

Fri, Jan 09 2015, 1:50 pm

Lady Bug wrote:

I'm confused. Won't it be much harder for the child to learn articulation etc from someone that stutters. If she was an ot or pt I would have no problem with it.

Lady Bug

Fri, Jan 09 2015, 4:29 pm

amother wrote:

I'm confused. Won't it be much harder for the child to learn articulation etc from someone that stutters. If she was an ot or pt I would have no problem with it.

No it won't. Articulation has nothing to do with stuttering. She can say all the sounds properly and can have excellent techniques to get your child to say it regardless of her stutter. Now if your child were getting speech therapy for stuttering I would hear you - but even then I would say that a speech therapist who stutters can understand your child in a way that no one else can, and can teach from first hand experience and can be a role model for your child as someone who stutters and still succeeded in life.

Lady Bug

Fri, Jan 09 2015, 4:32 pm

amother wrote:

I wouldn't either send my kid to a speech therapist that stutters. She should have picked a different career, somebody who stutters shouldn't choose to become a speech therapist.

Change the "stutters" to "is black" and let's see how fast the PC police will be on your case. But when you so callously paint all people who stutter with the incompetent brush, and decide which profession they should or shouldn't go into, how is that ok?

JMM-uc

Sat, Jan 10 2015, 12:07 pm

Lady Bug wrote:

If someone promises you a cure for stuttering and then they stutter doesn't it mean it doesn't work?
I went to a diet group and the 'leader' was very heavy. It bothered me very much because it means her diet plan didn't work for her.

chani8

Sat, Jan 10 2015, 4:25 pm

I once took DS to a speech therapy exam and the therapist couldn't pronounce 'th' any better than my son. The supervisor, a head doctor, sat with me as we observed the test. The doctor about fell out of her seat when the therapist mispronounced the word 'three'. That totally cracked me up so we were both hysterical ROFL. How's that for lacking in PC?!

abound

Sat, Jan 10 2015, 4:57 pm

PC or not certain jobs are not for certain people. I don't know enough about this speech therapists stutter to give you an answer for that, but I certainly believe that you cannot take jobs if you have limitations in fulfilling that job.

b from nj

Sat, Jan 10 2015, 6:47 pm

It is common for people who stutter to become speech language pathologists (aka speech therapists) since the field may have helped them overcome their hardship & therefore they feel that they want to help others.

When in was in grad school for speech pathology I had a professor who definitely had a speech issue but despite that she had her doctorate in the field & was a noted professor. I seem to recall that one of the stuttering experts in the field who taught at Brooklyn College & wrote text books on stuttering also had a stutter.

Regarding your child, I would give it a few sessions, see how your child works with this therapist & then take it from there. You can either decide to request another therapist in the practice or switch to another group if you prefer.

I wouldn't make a rash decision immediately. If this practice hired this therapist, they obviously have their reasons for doing so & as others have said, she may be excellent.

Also, what is your child going to her to work on? Is it a language issue, oral motor, articulation, voice problem etc? This therapist may be an expert in any of the various areas of speech/language that I mentioned above & again, she may be wonderful...or not but I think you should give her a chance & see how your DD connects with her etc.

Hatzlacha!

Lady Bug

Sat, Jan 10 2015, 10:03 pm

JustMeMyself wrote:

There is no cure for stuttering and no speech therapist will promise you that.

If someone has a lisp or mispronounces sounds and as an adult didn't get the help that they're profession offers, it is different than someone who stutters, and may have benefitted from therapy as much as possible already.

Dr. Barry Guitar, the foremost expert on stuttering, also stutters. It didn't prevent him from achieving success in helping people who stutter at all.

MaBelleVie

Sun, Jan 11 2015, 12:51 am

Hmmm. Marsha Linehan, who developed DBT (which is an incredible approach that is very successful in treating psychological disorders, and is currently the gold standard in treating borderline personality disorder) has revealed that she believes she has suffered from BPD herself. Yet she is the guru on the topic and without her professional contributions, the mental health field would be sorely lacking.