A Journey of Stuttering

About the presenter: Jane Feldman, MA, CCC-SLP/L received her BA in Speech Pathology from the University of Iowa in 1987 and her MA degree in Communicative Disorders from the University of Northern Iowa in 1989. She spent 10 years as a medical SLP and the last 12 years in the public schools. Although she has not many stuttering clients in 22 years, she believes the clinical relationship she develops with her students makes a positive impact on their progress.

About the presenter: Stephanie, 17, attends a small HS in Iowa. She has stuttered since the age of 8. She remembers that her stuttering started following her adenoid surgery. She has learned many strategies to help her manage her stuttering. She has shared her knowledge and her struggles through a power point and a Keynote with teachers, 4H judges and the school board at her school. Stephanie says this about stuttering: "It's not that big of a deal. It's just part of who you are."

A Journey of Stuttering

by Jane Feldman and Stephanie
from Iowa, USA

This piece is an anecdote of the process of working with one student who stutters. The student is Stephanie, who is presently a junior in a small school in Iowa. The projects we completed together were a power point, entitled "Stuttering" and a keynote (the Apple version of Power Point) entitled "Friends and Stuttering."

Stephanie was in seventh grade at the beginning of the journey. We divided the subject of stuttering and outlined what she thought was important to share with others. She did research on facts about stuttering and included them. She decided to present the information to the middle school teachers. She was in 8th grade when it was in the completed form. She also used the power point as a 4H project, and she received a blue ribbon. She stated that she felt like an "expert" when she shared the information

To view the PowerPoint, click on the picture above

For the second project, "Friends and Stuttering", we delved into appropriate friend making skills combined with stuttering. By this time, Stephanie was a freshman in high school. The school year was used to complete the project. When asked about the process involved with these projects, Stephanie commented, "It was a lot of work."

Stephanie presented "Friends and Stuttering" to the secondary staff during an in-service day. The teachers were impressed with her delivery. She showed confident control of her stuttering. The principal asked if she would present it to the school board, demonstrating the technology used. The school was in their first year of one-to-one computers and this was a great way to show educational (and therapeutic) use of the technology. Again, Stephanie did a great job showing control of her stuttering in front of a crowd. In the spring of last year, Stephanie decided to go out for the Speech Team and she used a portion of the keynote in the Expository Address category. She stated that it was difficult to shorten it because she had so much to say.

To view the PowerPoint, click on the picture above

These projects were therapeutic to Stephanie because she was the "expert" on her stuttering and she said it "felt good" to let the teachers know what did and did not help when she experienced a stuttering moment. These projects were helpful to me because I was able to see my student "shine". She truly was the expert and I was able to see her be independent with her stuttering moments. I was proud of how she handled herself, friends and teachers.

Stephanie stated that the "Friends and Stuttering" project helped her become more appropriate around people. These projects helped me because it was great to see the independence of one of my students. Sometimes we wonder if we make a difference in students' lives. I believe we made a difference in each others' lives.