Stuttering: Telling My Story in Three Words

About the presenter: Nina Reeves, M.S. CCC-SLP is a staff fluency specialists for several school districts near Dallas, Texas. Nina also specializes in providing stuttering therapy services to children and adolescents who stutter in her private practice. Nina presents interactive workshops for speech-language pathologists, early childhood educators, elementary and secondary educators, and parents at the local, state, national and international levels. She has co-authored several publications on the subject of stuttering.

Stuttering: Telling my story in three words!

by Nina Reeves
from Texas, USA

In May of this year, I was hosting a party for my private practice clients and their families. (a.k.a. "Family Fun Night"). In the preparation stages, as I was trying to come up with a great idea to 'bond' the group, I remembered a video spot I had seen (somewhere) that encouraged people to describe their week 'in three words.'

My clients, their siblings and parents were encouraged to help people who don't stutter understand the experience by using three words only. This lead to many discussions among the families. They all realized the benefit of sharing thoughts on stuttering and discussing it openly in non-threatening and positive ways.

The entire process was eye opening; both for the families as they discovered each other's ideas about stuttering, and for me, as I gained perspective into the minds and hearts of my students and those surrounding them.

Once the words were written, each person was videotaped presenting their ideas. These clips were edited for length and then set to music. Not every student was in the first version, so I have created many versions to share with the families.

Please click below to view a short movie, which was made with permission and presented at the National Stuttering Association annual conference in Fort Worth, TX, 2011.