WORKING WITH GIRLS WITH
SPEECH & LANGUAGE DISABILITIES
Give whole, unhurried attention to the girl who has difficulty speaking. Don’t talk for her, but give help when needed. Keep your manner encouraging rather than correcting. When necessary, ask questions that require short answers or a nod or shake of the head.
Encourage her to speak more. Practically any speech improvement, of whatever sort she is going to achieve, she will have to achieve while she is speaking and through the act of speaking.
Encourage the girl to talk about her stuttering and her feelings, if she perceives it as a problem.
See to it that each girl has as much feeling of success as possible in speaking. Find out as much as possible about the kinds of speaking the girl does with little or no stuttering. Speaking or reading in unison is an activity that most people who stutter can participate in with success.
Help the girl to develop a more realistic attitude toward her stuttering. Stutterers tend to exaggerate the amount of stuttering they do, and the seriousness of the consequences.
Help the girl develop a realistically good opinion of herself. It is beneficial to a person who stutters to give due attention and thought to her achievements and attractive characteristics.
Encourage the girl to enjoy learning and to cultivate worthwhile interests. One of the major problems of many adults who stutter is that of adjusting to the world of serious work and the responsibilities of earning a living.
Do not react emotionally to the girl’s stuttering. Do not interrupt or hurry her. Look at her, as you would at any individual, when she speaks.
Do you have suggestions and/or advice to share based on your experience working with differently abled populations? Please share them here!
