[ Post a Response | Articulation, Language, and Fluency ]
Posted by Lauri SLP
on 4/5/2012, 2:08 pm, in reply to "How do I get a gifted 7th grader to care about his speech?"
216.243.212.198
I had a middle school boy in the same boat. He would do fine with his /r/ when he thought about it/during tx but otherwise it was generally distorted during conversation. We got to the point where he was dismissed from speech. He knew how to correct his /r/ so it wasn't really ethical or necessary to keep him on an IEP and pull him out of class 1x per week. Parents were a little reluctant to let speech go but they knew that he certainly was smart enough to correct it if/when he wanted to. His distorted /r/ was just who the boy was. A gifted young man with an /r/ distortion.
Your idea about videotaping might help but it seems at this point, you should let him go. If he has a lisp as an adult, so be it. You can't make him care. You can offer your help as needed if down the road.
My daughter is a stutterer. I took her for therapy and we talk about it from time to time and she does know techniques to help her improve her fluency but it is part of her and that's it. I can't make her use her techniques. I am hopeful that she will see the benefit of using fluency techniques down the road but for now, it is what it is.
Sorry for long response. I know that we SLPs care SO much about improving our students' speech that it is hard to let them go when their speech isn't "perfect." Good luck!
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