Guest Editorial: Lessons from Humpty Dumpty

By Kathie Harrington, MA, CCC-SLP

Posted on: December 3, 2009

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My 88-piece Humpty Dumpty collection features the famous egg-shaped childhood friend we've all come to know and love. As a speech-language pathologist, I have used items from my collection as part of strategies in my tool bag and hugs for my clients. But Humpty Dumpty also represents life and its challenges. He has taught me that life is fragile and every life counts. Laugh with life, and don't wait for someone else to solve your problems. Respect the wall, but get off it.

We often are called upon to work with children and adults who are limited in their cognitive and/or physical abilities. The steps we take with them are small, and progress is limited. But everything counts. It counts to patients and to their family members. It counts in ways that we may never know. Giving a child or adult without a communication system one simple mode, such as a yes/no response, can mean the world. Life is fragile, and we are lucky to be part of a profession that deals with fragility at both ends of the spectrum.

The power of touch is significant. A newborn with a keyhole cleft palate is anything but what a parent dreams of bringing home from the hospital. When I greeted the baby and mother on the first week home, I didn't say, "What a cute baby!" or "How darling!" Instead, I simply placed a gentle hand on the baby's face and smiled, as I would smile at any mother and her newborn. Tears pooled in the mother's eyes, and she said, "Thank you for touching my baby. Nobody else will."

image courtesy Kathie Harrington

The wall is holding up Humpty Dumpty. It's his foundation, providing balance in the storm of life. The wall may not be very wide, but it's something to build on. How many times do members of an individual education plan (IEP) team sit around a table and discuss the things a child cannot do-all the weaknesses and inadequacies. They neglect to see the wall of strengths for this particular child. The team wants to tear down the wall and build a new one from scratch rather than reinforce the existing wall by providing support and self-esteem for the strengths that the child brings into the world in which he or she lives.

Building on a child's strengths is the key to success. At an exhausting IEP for a kindergartener with autism, team members discussed a goal of tying shoes. I recommended Velcro so the child could get out on the playground and socialize, which was the overall goal for language. Other team members wanted the child to learn how to tie his shoes and to do it every time before going out on the playground, even though it took more than half of the playground time. The goal remained that he tie his shoes before going to the playground. (At least two-thirds of the other children in the class couldn't tie their shoes either, but they were outside socializing.) The IEP team was trying to break down a wall to build a new one.

Walt Disney built an empire on his statement, "Laughter is no detriment to learning." I take one of my favorite Humpty Dumptys with me as I travel around, and I take pictures of him in various places and situations. He brings a smile to everyone's face, old or young. Laughter is one of the primary elements that help all people cope with life.

Speech-language pathologists often need to teach humor and laughter. When working with children who have autism and severe language disorders, we can draw upon our expertise in pragmatics and the importance of laughter to language. When a child laughs appropriately, we can tell they understand language. We also can bring laughter to the person with dementia or aphasia. We can help them all understand their world a little better through the eyes of joy and laughter. Laughter might only last a few seconds, but its residual effect can open a door to memories and bridge those memories into future events.

As important as it is to respect the wall, there is a time to get off it. A wall has dual meaning. It can be a foundation, but it also can be a barrier to productivity and change. Change is not easy, but you need to seek it, recognize it when it comes your way, and grasp it. Our profession calls this transition. There are many transitions to be taught, and there are many ways to teach transition.

Speech-language pathologists can't be productive if they're sitting on a wall. Get down off the wall, think new thoughts, meet new people, and go new places. I've never been bored in therapy, but I've heard some clinicians make that statement. If the speech-language pathologist is bored with the materials, how does the client feel? Try innovative and creative therapy techniques, and have fun while adhering to fundamental theory.

We can't just sit on a wall waiting for someone to come along and solve our problems. Welcome to the contemporary world of speech-language therapy! In the old days speech-language pathologists would drill, drill, drill. It worked-sometimes. Today, more of us are teaching clients not just what to learn but the how and why of learning.

Stress the joy of learning. Don't be afraid to laugh when it is appropriate. The world is waiting in books, nursery rhymes, songs and finger plays. Let patients explore with tactile and functional means instead of a convenient deck of cards. Give children time to solve the simplest of problems because this alone will raise their self-esteem and make them able to solve a bigger problem tomorrow.
The beauty of language as it is set to rhythm in nursery rhymes has been lost to a generation of children restricted to the confines of a computer and the dialogue of Dora. Speech-language pathologists who know how significant nursery rhymes and their characters are in a child's life can keep this art alive. However, don't teach nursery rhymes to your young clients; let them teach you because they can and will.

Humpty Dumpty has taught me so much about life and speech therapy. He has taught me how to expand on something very simple and make it into my own story. More importantly, he has taught me how to share his story with others so they, too, can enjoy his magical existence.

Take the lessons of Humpty Dumpty and all of the other nursery rhyme characters and make their simple lessons your own. Share these life lessons with your clients, young or old, and bring joy into their world. You just might find that you will bring joy into your own life as well.

Kathie Harrington is the owner of Good Speech Inc. in Las Vegas, NV. She can be contacted at KathieH2@cox.net.

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