Stuttering and bullying - everyone’s business
Reviewed by Anna Volkmer

This article emphasises that bullying (distinct from teasing- the former being defined as repeated actions intended as harmful, compared to good-natured interactions enjoyed by everyone) is an issue that can impact significantly on a child or young person’s ability to make gains in speech and language therapy as well as on their education, confidence and social development. The authors of this article outline a six-step programme to work on this issue in speech and language therapy comprising: 1) teach children about stammering; 2) teach children about bullying; 3) help children think differently about stuttering; 4) help children develop appropriately assertive responses to bullying; 5) help children educate their peers about stuttering and bullying; and 6) teach parents and others about stuttering, stuttering therapy and bullying. This article provides a practical guide to dealing with the sometimes stigmatised issue of bullying. It is particularly relevant for the young people we work with in this technological and social media savvy world where bullying can come from many different angles. It is not unusual that a child with communication difficulties has few people to trust and often the SLT is one of those - bullying must therefore fall within the remit of all health professionals, educationalists and social care professionals and we must have an understanding of strategic approaches to dealing with this.

How speech-language pathologists can minimise bullying of children who stutter.
Yaruss JS, Reeves N, Herring C.
SEMINARS IN SPEECH AND LANGUAGE
2018;39:333-41.