Practical Treatment Strategies for
School-Age Children Who Stutter

Overview

Many speech-language pathologists have expressed doubts about their ability to help school-age children who stutter. Questions about eligibility and dismissal criteria, overall treatment goals and IEPs, techniques for improving speech fluency, ways to improve children’s communication attitudes, strategies for working with parents and teachers, how to minimize teasing and bullying, and whether children can benefit from fluency devices or medications are common.

The purpose of this workshop is to help clinicians find real-world, practical answers to these and many other questions. Specific exercises and strategies will be discussed in detail, and participants will have the opportunity to explore a variety of different ways to help children who stutter overcome the difficulties associated with their stuttering. Participants will come away from the workshop feeling more confident in their own abilities for helping children who stutter and better able to respond to the challenges of stuttering therapy in schools and other settings.

Sample Outline / Timed Agenda

(Full-day program shown. All seminars can be adapted to a variety of schedules.)

8:30 - 9:00 Understanding Stuttering

A Broad-Based View of the Disorder

Making Sense of a Complicated Disorder

9:00 - 10:00 Comprehensive Evaluation of School-Age Stuttering

IDEA and Eligibility for School-Age Children

Helping Children Speak More Fluently

10:00 - 10:15 break

10:15 - 11:45 Selecting Appropriate Goals and Procedures for Treatment

Writing IEP Goals and Benchmarks

Helping Children Speak More Fluently

11:45 - 1:00 Lunch

1:00 - 2:30 Goals and Procedures of Treatment II

Helping Children Change the Way they Stutter

Helping Children Address Emotional and Cognitive Reactions

Achieving Success Outside of Therapy (Generalization)

2:30 - 2:45 Break

2:45 - 3:15 Working with the Child's Environment

Eliminating Teasing and Bullying

Helping Parents and Teachers Understand Stuttering

Coming to Terms with Stuttering: The Value of Support Groups

3:15 - 3:30 Questions & Answers

Specific Cases and Special Situations

Learning Objectives

Following this presentation, participants will be able to:

Design efficient and effective diagnostic evaluations of school-age children who stutter

Select appropriate treatment strategies to help children speak more easily

appropriate treatment strategies to help children communicate more effectively

Write meaningful, objective goals and document progress in treatment

Help children overcome their emotional and cognitive reactions to stuttering

Effectively involve families, teachers, and others in the child's treatment plan

Address adverse situations such as bullying and teasing

Enhance motivation in treatment

Bring families and teachers "on board" with treatment goals and strategies

For More Information

To schedule this seminar or to find out how this program can be adapted for your organization, contact Dr. Yaruss at seminars@yaruss.com.