Integrating a children's video on stuttering into therapy

By Peter Reitzes, MA, CCC-SLP

I recently used Stuttering: For Kids by Kids, a new children's video from the Stuttering Foundation, in a therapy session with a fifth-grader who stutters to help her talk openly about stuttering with her friends.

The 12-minute video features children and young teens who stutter sharing their experiences and knowledge about stuttering. Produced by Lisa Scott Trautman, PhD, and Carrol Guitar, MLS, the video is narrated by "Swish," an animated and likable character who bounces around in humorous ways while introducing each new topic.

The video opens with children introducing themselves. They then discuss and define stuttering from their own perspective. The video addresses a number of topics, such as when are children who stutter bothered by their disfluency, when does stuttering affect them most, when is talking easy for them, whether stuttering is a big deal for them, teasing, talking openly about stuttering, and advice for children who go to speech therapy.

In preparation for the therapy session, I told the student, "I just got this really cool video of children who stutter talking about stuttering. What is so great is that there are no adults in this video, only children. Watching this video is a fun way for you to learn about other children who stutter, and it is also a great way for your friends to learn about stuttering. Who would you like to invite to our speech class 'party' to join us to watch this movie?"

Myra* chose three girls from her class and her best friend, who was in another class. I spoke to both teachers and explained that children who stutter greatly benefit from talking openly to their friends about stuttering.¹ Myra's classroom teacher was very pleased when I mentioned that Myra would be more comfortable speaking in class knowing that her friends better understood her stuttering. Both teachers recognized the value of this project and allowed the chosen students to join us for a therapy session lasting a little over an hour.

I asked the girls to bring pencils and paper so they could write down things they enjoyed about and learned from the video. I provided donuts and milk for the "party."

I began the session by saying, "We are going to watch a DVD about stuttering. Who can tell me what stuttering is?" All five girls raised their hands. Myra's best friend said, "Stuttering is l-l-like when you talk like this." I asked the girls if they knew anyone else besides Myra who stutters. One student said, "Myra has two older sisters who stutter." Myra shared that her father and brother also stutter.

The girls had a good laugh when Myra said, "Yeah, my sisters stutter, too, but their real problem is that they are just a pain in the neck."

Wyatt, one of the featured children on the video, says, while stuttering, "Stuttering is when my words get stuckÉlike I just did." He is shown blocking on the word "stuttering" for several seconds. One of Myra's friends started laughing when Wyatt stuttered. I paused the video to address the laughing without putting any student on the spot.

I said to each student, "Think of one thing that is hard for you to do. Math is hard for me to do; I am not very good at it. What is one thing that is really hard for each of you?"

Each student named something that was hard for her to do, such as one who said, "Sports are hard for me. In gym class other children laugh at me." I told them, "It hurts when people laugh at us over these hard things. Just as there are some things that are hard for us to do, it is hard for the children in this video to speak. We should not laugh at them because they stutter."

One of the girls said, "Speaking is sometimes hard for Myra, and sometimes she gets laughed at when she talks." Another friend commented, "It is not nice to laugh at people." Myra chimed in and said, "Stuttering is something that just happens to me." All of the students agreed that it is not nice to laugh at other people's problems.

During the video, Swish asks the question, "When does stuttering affect you the most?" A teenager named Arianna says, "The hardest part about stuttering is [trying] to get through it. And it's hard to stay in there when you are stuck." Wyatt says, "I worry about it when I'm on 's' words. They always get me stuck."

I again stopped the video and said, "One of the reasons Myra comes to speech class is to practice smoothing out her stutters. Myra, could you please share with us one speech tool you practice in speech class to help you get 'unstuck' when you stutter?"

She chose stretching, which is similar to a prolongation and pull-out.^2-3 I asked Myra to demonstrate the technique because I believe children who stutter need to learn how to use their speech tools in front of other people.⁴

Transferring and generalizing gains made in the therapy room is a difficult task.⁵ However, I believe that providing Myra with opportunities to share her speech tools with friends will help her to transfer the use of those speaking strategies outside of the therapy room.

I challenged the girls to practice stretching on the first sound of their favorite candy bar. I explained that we practice stretching on first sounds because most moments of stuttering occur on the first sounds of words.^6-7 Myra gently stretched the "s" sound and said "S-s-snickers."

Each student practiced prolonging the first sound of words. One student incorrectly stretched on the name "Milky Way" by saying "Mi-i-ilky Way." "Good try," Myra said, "but you should stretch on the first letter of the word." She demonstrated the strategy, and her friend correctly stretched the first sound. Myra's ease in using and explaining the technique impressed her friends.

In response to the question by Swish about when stuttering affects them the most, a young teen named Umang explains, "I get worried what other people might think if I do stutter [and] if I will be able to get out of my blocks." I again paused the video and asked, "When are you worried about talking?"

The girls were excited by this topic and listed numerous difficult speaking tasks, such as speaking to a teacher, at a store, and in front of an older sibling. Myra said she did not like talking in class, and all four friends quickly agreed that speaking in class was difficult. One of the students observed, "Speaking in class is hard for most everybody."

The longest segment in the video deals with teasing. A young boy named Tommy recalls a lunchtime incident when he struck up a conversion with a new student. "I sometimes stutter when new people come into my life. So I just stuttered and he made fun of me."

After watching several more children talk about being teased and how to respond to teasers, I paused the video and asked the girls, "What can you do when someone is teasing you?" They came up with seven or eight responses, such as telling parents, a teacher or a speech teacher; telling the teaser to stop; explaining that stuttering is no big deal; and asking your friends to help you.

After watching the rest of the video, I asked each student to write down two things they liked about or learned from it. I collected their comments and read them aloud. Four of the students had come to believe that "stuttering is not a big deal." We discussed this topic, and the girls agreed that people who stutter should speak up when they want to talk. I was glad that Myra could hear her friends voice such an opinion.

I said it would be nice if Myra wrote a short review of the video for the school newsletter so more children would be able to learn about stuttering. All four guests were excited when I asked them if she could use their comments in her review.

Myra wrote the review during our next speech class: "This movie is about stuttering and had children speaking about stuttering. What I liked about the movie was that the children in the video want to say that they are not shy to talk. One thing I liked about it was that the children stutter and they just kept on talking. For example, when they spoke they just let their stuttering out and did not stop talking. During speech class, I watched this video with four of my friends. Nancy said, 'I learned that stuttering is not a big deal because everyone has problems.' Elaine said, 'I learned that some people can help themselves with stuttering.' Maria said, 'What I learned was that you should tell your friends if you stutter.' Jennifer said, 'What I learned is that stuttering is not funny.' My speech teacher said, 'I am so glad that Myra shared her stuttering and this video with her friends.'"

I have used Stuttering: For Kids by Kids in several other ways. I watched the video with individual and groups of children who stutter so students can learn from other children who stutter. As Joe Donaher, MA, a professional contributor to the video, recognized, "The best role models for children who stutter are other children who stutter."⁸

After watching the video with a group of fourth- and fifth-graders, they began comparing their individual patterns of stuttering with the children in the video. When watching the video with a second-grade student, he commented, "Now I know that there are other children who talk just like me."

I also have given the video to students to watch with their parents. One third-grader, an avid basketball card collector, was unwilling to talk openly about his stuttering. I lent the family the video and told the student, "I want you to watch the video together and write down two things that the children say about their stuttering. Next time we meet I want you to read me your homework and tell me what you learned from the children in the video. When you complete this assignment, I will let you choose five basketball cards to keep."

During our next session, my student was very excited to share his homework with me. He said, "I liked the video because I learned that people stutter in different ways. I learned that girls stutter, too."

*Names have been changed for privacy.

References

1. Gregory, H. (2000). Coping with school. In J. Fraser (ed.), Do You Stutter: A Guide for Teens (Pub. 21: 41-46). Memphis, TN: Stuttering Foundation.

2. Breitenfeldt, D.H., Lorenz, D.R. (2000). Successful Stuttering Management Program for Adolescent and Adult Stutterers (2nd ed). Cheney, WA: Eastern Washington University.

3. Van Riper, C. (1973). The Treatment of Stuttering (2 ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

4. Chmela, C.A., Reardon, N.A. (2001). The School-Age Child Who Stutters: Working Effectively with Attitudes and Emotions (Pub. No. 5). Memphis, TN: Stuttering Foundation.

5. Finn, P. (2003). Addressing generalization and maintenance of stuttering treatment in the schools: A critical look. Journal of Communication Disorders, 36: 153-64.

6. Andrews, G., Craig, A., Feyer, A.M., et al. (1983). Stuttering: A review of research findings and theories circa 1982. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 48: 226-46.

7. Natke, U., Sandrieser, P., van Ark, M., et al. (2004). Linguistic stress, within-word position, and grammatical class in relation to early childhood stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 29: 109-22.

8. Reitzes, P., Caggiano, L. (2003) Friends convention to be held in New York metro area. ADVANCE for Speech-Language Pathologists & Audiologists, 13 (10): 26-27.

Peter Reitzes is a Brooklyn-based speech-language pathologist, an adult stutterer, and author of 50 Great Activities for School Age Children Who Stutter: Lessons, Insights, and Ideas for Therapy Success (Pro-Ed, in press). Stuttering: For Kids by Kids is available from the Stuttering Foundation at www.stutteringhelp.org or by calling 800-992-9392.