We're working with kids who have been told their whole lives that there is something wrong with the way they talk. Children receive these complicated messages that they don’t understand, and these mixed-up messages steep into other areas of life. They can’t pinpoint the negativity they receive because it’s so subtle—adults responding poorly, peers shunning, laughing, or saying bad things. Kids don’t understand what part of them is “bad”—where the line ends. Children do not think the mechanics of their speaking is bad, but rather, “When I talk, it’s bad.”
 

Joybound™ addresses the whole student—what we’re supposed to do as SLPs.

 

For stuttering, that means tackling emotional therapy as it relates to communication and is deemed appropriate within our scope of practice. One quarter of the program is focused on emotional therapy. Another quarter is focused on real life skills—so that if someone says, “Why do you talk that way?” to a second grader, they have a good definition of stuttering. Life skills are empowering and functional. 

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We need to give kids every tool to function in life. We are responsible for not knowing more than they know about their own disorder. Joybound is about empowering a student’s identity and instilling joy.