Last week I took a copy of Seth Godin’s book, What To Do when It’s Your Turn with me on a week-long vacation in a condo with a hot tub – and several significant snow falls which went oh so well with that hot tub! We were probably the only people in Minnesota who were thrilled with the white stuff. Reading Godin has inspired me to start a series of posts inspired by his writings…

…which brings me to Godin’s comment of how freedom is an opportunity. In the past several years, options for addressing a child’s speech tension and stuttering have evolved and access to information through the Internet presents a freedom to explore unlike ever before. Technology (and a pandemic) has pushed the opportunity for engaging in therapy remotely to the forefront, giving parents a freedom of choice.

Godin states that, “Freedom is our problem and freedom is our opportunity.” He goes on to say:

• Freedom brings the appearance of risk
• Freedom brings responsibility,
• Freedom means we must make a choice. ₁

Today’s availability of and access to a myriad of options, opinions, and recommendations for children exhibiting speech tension is in stark contrast to when we were faced with this challenge 23 years ago when our son was 2 ½. Taking him to the nearest speech therapist certainly didn’t feel risky; making that effort made me feel quite responsible; and the only choice I had to consider was what day of the week to schedule therapy.

… ah, the good ole days.

Access to a wider array of intervention possibilities should feel empowering for parents and caregivers. At the same time, the inherent risks, responsibility, and weight of making the “right” choice can feel overwhelming and even paralyzing. Godin goes on to say,

“Liberate yourself from the need to be right.”
I feel a weight off my shoulders just typing those words. As parents, we are not always going to get it right. We need to listen to our hearts. In the Voice Unearthed Facebook group, many parents express concern that engaging in therapy or even talking to their children about the stutter might make things worse. The professional narrative downplays these concerns, but in truth, it can happen, it does happen, and intervention sanctioned by the profession often fuels these unfortunate outcomes.

Seventy to eighty percent of children will persist in stuttering into their teen years, with or without therapy. We have little to go on as to which children that will be. I interviewed 60 individuals for my latest book, VoiceS Unearthed: The Impact of Childhood Intervention on Those Who Continue to Stutter.” Many of them spoke of early therapy experiences focused on eliminating the behavior had a negative impact on both short and long-term quality of life. These individuals often engaged in further intervention to recover from the emotional damage done as a result of early intervention.

The good news is, intervention is evolving, giving parents with children who stutter and adults who stutter options intended to minimize exacerbation of the speech tension while maximizing engagement and connection – without a “fix-it” component. More and more therapists are becoming skilled in intervention focused on counseling and advocacy, acceptance and avoidance reduction.

Today we have the freedom to explore and enlist various types of interventions based on informed decision making, not luck of the draw. That freedom comes with risk and responsibilities. We may not make the “right” choice, but we can now make an informed choice focused on the short and long-term well-being of our children and our families. Yes, freedom brings it’s own challenges, but today the opportunities far outweigh those challenges – so be free!!

Best,
Dori Holte
Author: “VoiceS Unearthed: The Impact of Childhood Intervention on Those Who Continue to Stutter.”

1. Godin, Seth (2014). What To Do When It’s Your Turn, pg. 15, The Domino Project