• A hypothetical scenario involving a child, Conor and his parents who go to see SLT, Róisín.
• While hypothetical, it is based on a range of real-life experiences of the author.
• It highlights the parents’ desire that part of SLT professional identity be “able to cure”.
• SLT resistance of that identity and choice to be an ally to Conor.
• The process of considering available evidence and seeking support from those with more experience in order to negotiate an identity regarding the type of alliance she will offer.
• Resistance of normalising discourse regarding fluency.

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Brian and Sandra – parents of Conor aged 3.4

• Conor – advanced language development, no concerns re speech errors.
• One day, out of the blue, Conor begins to repeat words and part-words.
• Sandra is surprised, then worried and… she reacts.
• Brian remembers his mother saying that one of his brothers had difficulty with speech but grew out of it.
• Conor continues to repeat, begins to prolong sounds and sometimes no sound comes out when he tries to say a word. 
• Sandra and Brian decide it's time to go to a speech and language therapist and they meet Róisín.
• Their story about Conor – about their role - about Róisín and her role – their expectations.

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Róisín

• Róisín is 25 – has been working in same job since 21 – first class honours – manager affirms her excellence  - more complex cases – wider range. 
• Anne, specialist in stuttering/fluency disorders is on maternity leave so case is assigned to Róisín.
• Róisín consults the evidence – Fluency shaping approach with lots of evidence. 
• Has notes from in-service Anne gave – decides to go with indirect approach and start with education – but assessment first including taking case history.
• And the plot thickens – Sandra ..(and Brian) want stuttering gone asap  - yes parent sessions are fine – but when is she going to see Conor and fix his speech?

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Conor

• Conor loves fun – he likes lots of things, running, painting, lego, and he has lots to say.
• He has noticed that some words seem to have a mind of their own recently and it’s like they get stuck.
• Mom and Dad have said nothing -  he has noticed they go very quiet and just look at him.
• One day last week, Granny Annie was minding him in the car and he was talking to her when a word was getting him stuck.
• She told him to “slow down, take a deep breath and start again”. 
• He could not see her face, but she sounded a bit something different.
• Note to self – try to not let words get stuck! 
  

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Assessment day for Conor

• Went   lovely place with loads of toys and met Róisín who played with me and talked to Mom and Dad.
• She made a video of me.
• Mom does that sometimes too.
• I wonder why? 
• Róisín seems to get stuck on some words too – not sure why I am here but Róisín has the best Lego and I am making an amazing bridge.
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Roisin's dilemma

• Wants to help – who? Conor? But parents want fluency.
• Her CPD, while limited, has her thinking that focusing on fluency might not be best choice. 
• She takes her dilemma to supervision.
• She Googles and finds StutterTalk. 
• She contacts the SIG/CEN.
• She decides that she needs to talk with parents about some of the difficulties she sees with focusing on fluency.