commentr/StutterJuly 11, 2025

Content

I'm happy to see a parent really embracing this view. I have several speech therapy clients who stutter, and I can say it's extremely normal for parents to think of fluency as the goal, at least at first. You love your child and want the greatest benefit out of therapy! Using fluency strategies can become more automatic if they are heavily practiced, but there's always a tradeoff in mental resources that a person is devoting to monitoring and adjusting their speech. So, we want people to have the choice between "more fluent, but with work to maintain that fluency" and "easy and low-effort communication, regardless of fluency or disfluency." Having that be a choice, rather than something that we can't control, is empowering and self-affirming. Keep in mind that many people who stutter use strategies to the maximum possible extent, just to keep their heads above water so to speak. For them, as it is for your daughter, the fluency management techniques are a means to an end, and that end is successful communication and fulfilling participation in life activities. Your daughter is already there, so you and the rest of her team can just focus on keeping her there!

Themes

Identity & DisabilityCoping & AdvocacyEmotional Experience

Subthemes

Acceptance & PrideFluency TechniquesHope & Motivation