CSD 8205
Advanced Fluency Disorders

Getting Started

Each of you enters this course with some background knowledge base about stuttering.  Take a few minutes to review your background knowledge base and answer the questions as best you can.

1.	What is the extent of your background knowledge base about stuttering?  What do you know, how much do you know, and how well do you know it?
2.	Where does your knowledge base  about stuttering come from?
3.	How confident are you in your knowledge base about stuttering? (1 = no confidence; 10 = I could teach an undergraduate class)
4.	Identify 1 or 2 things that baffle you most about stuttering.
5.	Identify 2 or 3 concerns that you have about working with someone who stutters.
6.	Identify 2 or 3 goals that you want to accomplish for yourself by the end of this course.

[Return to Course Outline]   [Go to Unit 1]

Beginning of semester concerns:

Four themes emerged in the concerns that you bring with you to this course. (Since you could list more than 1 concern, the numbers add up to more than 15):

• General uncertainty about where to begin and what to do (9)
  Falling into this theme were comments about not knowing where to begin, not knowing what to look for in an evaluation, not knowing how to plan therapy and what tools, strategies, and techniques to use.

• All of the issues related to counseling (8)
  Some of you expressed concern about how to respond to or help clients with their emotions related to stuttering. Others of you expressed concerned about balancing the counseling and therapeutic sides of therapy. And a few of you showed remarkable self-honesty by saying that the counseling aspects of therapy scare you. Counseling is, indeed, scary stuff for SLPs because emotions are messy and we can't control anything.

• Clinical relationship issues (5)
  This theme has a connection to counseling because the quality of the clinical relationship has a strong effect on what kind of counseling can happen and how effective it can be. Concerns about allowing enough wait time, not knowing what your own reaction to the stuttering will be, and developing clinical empathy fell under this theme.

• Effectiveness of therapy (4)
  Some of you asked out right just how effective can therapy be. This question gives us all pause because it seems that many factors conspire against the individual to succeed in therapy, including genetics. Unlike with other disorders, people who stutter can relapse.

 

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Beginning of semester goals:

Your goals for the semester cluster into 3 categories:

• Expanding your general knowledge base about stuttering (15)
  Comments in this theme included learning more about the cause and development of stuttering, assessment procedures, appropriate therapy strategies for people of different ages. This category also includes comments about being able to apply what you learn in the classroom to a client and knowing where to find useful resources.

• Developing appropriate plans and using appropriate therapy strategies (9)
  Several of you mentioned wanting to learn about specific therapy strategies, when to use them, how to use them, etc.

• Increasing your comfort level and confidence (7)
  Comments in this theme included general comfort and confidence, as well as specific areas such as conducting assessments, knowing what to look and listen for, and the big one: counseling skills.

 

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The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
©2011 Cindy S. Spillers. For concerns about this course contact the instructor at cspiller@d.umn.edu