As SLP’s, it is easy to want the focus of speech therapy to be on “fixing” or “curing” stuttering, but sometimes we need to spend less time on that and more time doing activities that focus on the emotional aspect of stuttering disorders.
I can remember sitting in my graduate school stuttering class and feeling discouraged when I learned that there wasn’t any way for speech therapists to “cure” stuttering. Up until that point, I had thought that stuttering therapy was very similar to articulation therapy.
I was also shocked to learn that a large part of stuttering therapy was guiding students through the emotional aspects of stuttering. It was going to be my job to help them process the anxiety and potentially negative feelings that can come with stuttering.
I can teach and talk about emotions all day long on an informative level. Having a child trust me enough to talk about his/her insecurities is a big responsibility and it terrifies me!
I get so awkward when it comes to talking about emotions and feelings on a real level.
I want my students to know that they are amazing people who were created perfectly.
They are not flawed or broken. I want to consistently feed these kinds of positive affirmations to my students. I want them to hear it, believe it, and feel it to their core-but how can I do that in a natural way?
The answer? Stuttering Exit Tickets for Speech Therapy!
Here is why I love these exit tickets:
- They are simple activity that focuses on the emotional aspect of stuttering. I can easily remind my students of their worth and value.
- They are super easy to make and re-use.
- They are a great way to review and pre-teach important topics.
How does this stuttering activity work?
- Cut the strips and put them in a container.
- At the end of each session, your student draws a ticket and you discuss what is written on the paper.
What is on the tickets?
- Positive affirmations– These positive affirmations help your student develop a positive mindset around his/her speech.
- Famous People Who Stutter– Teaching students about famous and successful people who stutter teach them that they can do anything!
- Facts About Stuttering- These simple facts educate your students about stuttering and empower them to educate others!
- Trivia Questions- These trivia questions were designed to review facts about stuttering and help your students examine their own stutter.
Does this sound like something that will help your students navigate the emotional aspects of stuttering therapy? Hop on over to TPT to grab your own copy!
