Questions
- Read the clinician's reflections of her experiences in conducting the assessment. From her reflections and your observations, comment on the issues of cultural sensitivity emerging from this assessment.
- Map the findings of the assessment using the International Classification of Functioning as a framework.
- Write a comprehensive report of assessment findings and make recommendations for intervention.
As with all assessments, you often go into it with a set way of thinking and certain expectations. I knew that for the whole assessment I had to have a level of cultural sensitivity. Coming from an African background myself I went in knowing that there are certain things I would need to pay attention to-the way I address the parents and teacher, the way in which I presented my recommendations to them...so as to be respectful and also provide them with the information they needed. I felt that I was able to maintain this for the duration of the assessment and also adjust according to my interactions with parents, teacher and learner.
Looking back at the assessment perhaps there were things I could have probed further- e.g. Their beliefs and investment in getting treatment? From the information gathered, it was clear that no one else in the family had received any SLT intervention. It was the teacher who suggested the assistance of an SLT. This means to them, it was not quite a 'problem' as such. So this lead to some further questions about the 'meaning' of stuttering and their beliefs. Would these hinder or help in the intervention process? If in fact their child did not get better with age...what would that mean for them? It was interesting to see how little information they had about stuttering (e.g. The dad thinking that there may be some kind of operation involved). They had their own set of ideas surrounding stuttering. However with that, I found that the also made it an acceptable 'issue'. Because they stutter they have a level of understanding of their daughter. That meant that there were no negative attachments to it, they had developed their own methods/strategies which they had taught their child. This is probably why their daughter didn't have a completely bad attitude toward stuttering. It seems that the overall communication environment is a safe and supportive one. It is an indication that they will be able to follow through with recommendations given, although it could take some 'blending' of ideas and meeting at a common point regarding the outcomes of therapy.
The learner had a positive attitude, works hard in class and has a lovely sense of humour. This makes her different from what you would typically see in children who stutter. This probably has implications for how far she will get- as the stuttering doesn't hinder the person that she is. This is also likely linked to the way in which her parents have treated it as an acceptable way of speaking.
-What could have been done differently..... There could be further information provided. In particular, I found that there is a need to perhaps provide the teachers/educators with tools and strategies about fluency and how to go about working with a child who stutters and how to handle other learners who also don't understand it. This could improve the entire school environment for the child. The educator could definitely be a driving force behind giving other teachers the knowledge needed to cope with children with fluency problems.
I would also pay special attention to the interview process- perhaps reflect back to the parents more often. To give them a sense that I do understand what they are saying, where they are coming from.
General assessment...
The way the assessment was structured was in order to identify at which point a child started to experience added difficulty. This allowed me, as an SLT to pin point where the dysfluency is exacerbated. This was helpful in identifying possible goals for intervention.
It was easy to identify the typical stuttering behaviours- core and secondary. The footage obtained will definitely provide sufficient data for analysis, description and diagnosis- even if they watch it without any subtitles.
I would still follow the similar steps in the assessment as it helped to obtained the necessary information.
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