Tips on Picking a Speech-Language Pathologist: What to Look Out For

Blog by Voon Pang
Oct. 22, 2013

This year’s International Stuttering Awareness Day theme (People Who Stutter Supporting Each Other) inspired me to read numerous articles by those who stutter and to listen to some classic podcasts on StutterTalk which has lead to this post on how to pick a SLP who understands stuttering. Following on from my last blog entry, where I encouraged parents to seek out early intervention, I hope that some of the tips below resonate with some of you (whether you are a SLP who works with people who stutter or a consumer of stuttering therapy) when looking for a SLP to work with you or your child.

As a person who doesn’t stutter, I would like to acknowledge Dr Walter Manning’s work; as the tips are a summary of an excellent article he wrote in 2004.

Note: Dr Walter Manning is a clinician/person who stutters who has published over 100 articles on stuttering. He is also the author of the textbook, Clinical Decision Making in Fluency Disorders – 3^rd Edition (published in 2010).

Attributes and Skills of SLPs to Look Out For

Along with relevant experience, speech language pathologists who have a deep understanding of stuttering are usually more effective. They:

Listen closely to their clients so they understand their story. Listening allows one to go beyond the surface behaviours and begin to understand the client’s interpretations of his or her problem. Listening with empathy facilitates understanding without judgement, which in turn helps develop a working alliance between the clinician and the client.

Are flexible and adjust the content and timing of therapy to meet their client’s needs. They relinquish, to some degree, being the expert and strive to meet the client’s goals rather than their own. Goals may include decreasing the frequency of stuttering; improving communication skills, taking risks and decreasing avoidance behaviour, or reducing the impact stuttering has on one’s life (or to put it in another way, living life fully despite stuttering). Although related, each goal can be weighted differently depending on what the individual wants and needs.

Provide a rational explanation for their clinical decision. Clinicians who understand why treatment works (or why it does not) can troubleshoot and adapt therapy to suit the client’s needs.

Leave the therapy room and clinic and enter the everyday world to walk in the shoes of those they help (this may include being a companion who also stutters). Effective SLPs lead by example and they do what they ask clients to do. This includes taking risks and encouraging clients to do the same as well as being fearless and nurturing fearlessness.

Attend a self-help meeting of people who stutter, such as the annual meeting of the National Stuttering Association, Friends or Speak Easy International. They listen to stories of courage, success, acceptance and support and focus on the content rather than how much stuttering occurs.

Continue to be a student throughout their career. Clinicians who sharpen their knowledge and skills by taking part in continuing education activities ensure that they are up to date with what work works and have other treatment approaches available to them. A clinician with many treatment approaches and associated techniques has more options to choose from when tailoring therapy to suit the individual’s needs.

Speech language pathologists who ‘get’ stuttering combine the science and art of therapy to find the best fit for their clients. Although there is no ‘one size fits all’ when picking a SLP, the general guidelines above can help you become a savvy consumer.

All the best and until next time,

Voon

The Stuttering Foundation's list of speech-language pathologists who specialize in stuttering

Reference: Manning, W. (2004), “How can you understand? You don’t stutter!” Contemporary Issues In Communication Science and Disorders, 31, 58-68.

Posted Oct. 22, 2013

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Bob Love

Bob Love has dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.

Byron Pitts

Byron Pitts has brought much attention to stuttering with his memoir, Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life’s Challenges, released in September, 2009. The book not only details his speech difficulties, but also his illiteracy until age 12 and his unstable family life. Pitts overcame the odds to become the chief national correspondent with ABC News.

Bruce Willis

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.

Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany to his German mother, Marlene, and his American GI father, David Willis. The family settled in David’s hometown of Penns Grove, New Jersey in 1957, and the couple has three other children.

Ken Venturi

As much of the nation watches the U.S. Open Golf Championship, it is impossible not to think about our late friend Ken Venturi. Ken overcame many challenges to win the Open at Congressional in 1964 and go on to become the voice of golf for more than three decades.

However, Ken faced no bigger obstacle than stuttering. Ken Venturi was a champion to those who stutter, going out of his way to share his personal experience when consulted by a colleague, friend, or child who stutters.

King George

In November 2010, worldwide movie audiences were presented with a most interesting and unusual movie release with The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth as King George VI and Helena Bonham Carter as his wife Elizabeth.

Unfortunately, history may have forgotten the courageous and inspiring story of Prince Albert who stuttered badly and never dreamed that he would ever be king when his older brother, King Edward VIII, abruptly abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.