2. The end goal of speech therapy for stuttering
Whether you're a parent, speech-language pathologist, or a person who stutters you want to begin with the end in mind.
What is the end goal of the improvement efforts?
It might seem obvious and kind of implied, but it's not that obvious! When we choose the obvious and implied we get on the wrong track that keeps people who stutter rambling around the same spot.
In this episode you’ll hear and learn:
- Why great strategies and practice are not enough
- How to not lose track of the big picture
- Why "NOT STUTTERING" is NOT the end goal
- My story and how I came to my personal end goal with stuttering when I was 17 and when I struggled the most
- That truly enjoying speaking interaction might seem to be an impossible goal but it's absolutely achievable
- The differences between "not stuttering" and truly enjoying speaking interaction and being truly present to it
- Why "not stuttering" as an end goal turns into escaping stuttering
- How escaping stuttering feeds stuttering and makes it so strong and powerful
- The core piece of stuttering - the automated emotional state associated with the act of speaking
- Why sticking to "short-term fluency" doesn't get people who stutter any closer to the end goal
- Why "long-term fluency" goes hand in hand with enjoying being in the spotlight of speaking interaction
- How enjoying speaking interaction, in turn, goes hand in hand with the acceptance
- When the real change, the real shift happens in general feeling about speaking interaction
- How exploring helps to turn the emotional state of escaping into the emotional state of enjoying it
As an assignment, as an action item, I would suggest writing down the end goal of the speech therapy for stuttering or the end goal of the improvement efforts the way you see it.
And then write down the strategies that you use for that. I want to make sure that you're satisfied with how those strategies correspond with the end goal that you wrote down.
If they are not corresponding well enough, then maybe it becomes food for thought to question those strategies or to change those strategies, or to enrich those strategies with some other strategies that are missing.