Fluency Interactive Digital Notebook
We are so excited about this Fluency Interactive Digital Notebook! If you’ve never heard of a “digital notebook” before – have no fear! We hadn’t heard of it before going remote last spring either. A digital notebook is a resource created using Google Slides. It is designed to look like an actual notebook organized into different sections. Each section is linked to the first page to make for an easy transition, as if the students are easily flipping to the section in their notebook (instead of scrolling through numerous slides). The best way to utilize a Google Notebook in your sessions is to make a copy and rename for each student or post it as an assignment in Google Classroom (make sure to click “make a copy for each student” when posting). Each student will then have access to their very own “notebook.” Slides are editable and links are clickable throughout the notebook. The best part is, you are always able to see what the students are writing and typing in real time. We love creating these notebooks and our students love using them in our sessions. Check out our other digital notebooks here.
Okay, back to our Fluency Digital Notebook! We wanted to create a comprehensive resource that could be used for stuttering groups via teletherapy. It is rare to have stuttering students in high school (we maybe have 1-2 on our caseloads). However, when they appear, we sometimes feel lost about where to begin (anyone else?). We previously created a Fluency Packet, however we wanted to make something a little more interactive for teletherapy and remote learning. Thus, the Fluency Digital Notebook was born!
Considering stuttering is a complex and dynamic speech disorder, our hope was to create something that addressed all aspects of stuttering therapy. Aside from the actual stutter, there are many negative feelings and emotions associated with stuttering which also must be addressed with our students. Adolescents who stutter pose unique challenges due to their developmental age, their strong desire to be accepted by their peers, and their heightened awareness of stuttering at this age. Adolescents are at the age where they are capable of using metalinguistic skills to figure out ways to hide stuttering episodes, creating challenging avoidance behaviors. Working with adolescents who stutter requires understanding of the management of multiple interrelated factors.
Let’s dive into each section of the notebook:
Getting to Know Your Stutter
This section is meant to teach your students about stuttering. The section includes an introduction to anatomy, different types of stuttering and secondary behaviors, self-assessments, and a baseline which is meant to provide an understanding of the types of stutter your students present with. We also include a lesson on the iceberg analogy of stuttering, “Stuttering is like an iceberg, with only a small part above the waterline and a much bigger part below.” While strategies can be a vital part of stuttering therapy, it is just as important to provide a safe space for our students to dive into these feelings represented in the iceberg as they get to know their stutter.
Strategies to Improve Your Stutter
This section includes 16 fluency enhancing strategies. It is our suggestion that you start with diaphragmatic breathing and work to achieve fluency at all levels of speech before moving onto other strategies. Then pick and choose which strategies work for your students (all strategies do not work for all students). This section also includes visuals!
Practice
We have provided practice lists to be used in conjunction with the strategies. Lists include syllables, CVC words, multisyllabic words, phrases, sentences (increasing in complexity and length), and paragraphs (increasing in complexity and length).
Activities
The activities in this section do not need to be utilized in any particular order. Pick and choose an activity of the week or utilize them each week in conjunction with teaching the strategies. This section includes a fluency self-assessment Google Form and an interest survey which can guide your therapy from the start. It is always important with adolescents to make sure you understand your student’s interests and concerns regarding their stutter in order to provide therapy that is both student-directed and engaging. This section also includes real-life scenarios and reflection pages. Remember, stuttering therapy with adolescents will include scenarios and experiences outside of your therapy room. You might have to get creative with your therapy! In this section, you will also find weekly rating sheets, goal setting worksheets, homework trackers, and journal pages (with prompts and without prompts). Incorporate the appropriate activities into your sessions that work for you and your students. If you need more blank pages, you can click CTRL+D or Command+D (on a Mac) to duplicate any slide.
Helpful Websites and Online Tools
This section provides websites, support groups, and podcasts that students might find helpful. You can explore these pages with your students and incorporate the resources into your sessions or simply ask your students to take a look when they are ready.
We’ve been testing this resource out with our stuttering groups for a few months now and tweaked it to get it just right. It has been so easy to use and makes planning our sessions a breeze. We hope it does the same for you!
