Word Swap Wednesday: Fix
Any version of this “fix the way my child talks” is heard by kids the same way.
A few reasons why this is not … good…
1. First things first - an SLP can’t “cure” or “fix” a stutter any more than my therapist can “cure” my emotions. These expectations aren’t fair or realistic and they set EVERYONE involved up for failure.
2. There’s nothing “broken” with your child - or if you’re the stutterer, with you. The way you speak isn’t broken. You’re not broken. Your voice isn’t broken. The only thing ‘broken’ is the world we live in and the expectations society puts on us to all look and act the same. Having a disability is not being broken. Hard stop.
3. As I’ve posted before, this doesn’t tell the SLP anything about your child. Are you scared because your child feels unable to communicate? Are they being bullied? Are they struggling somehow because of their stutter, and if so, how? Physical tension, emotional disregulation, mental exhaustion, social struggles? What have they told you?
Please refrain from using “fix” when speaking about stuttering. Sometimes we may do it in slightly more mild ways (“the XXX technique fixed it for awhile, right?”), but stay on guard!
We are not broken.
