He's struggling, but he doesn't know it?

The big guy's stutter has been severe lately. Over the past 2-3 weeks we've seen a natural progression in the stutter. I'd say it is the same as it was in February in severity. I'm not sure if the impending school year has him stressed/anxious or if it's because he hasn't been working with his therapist.

What impresses me most about him is that he seems oblivious. He's only six, so I know that if it were affecting him emotionally at this point, he'd tell us. He's very open about how he's feeling. I hope that he would be open about his speech at this point. In the beginning he didn't want to talk about it. Now, he seems o.k. when we do. Let's hope my "mothers intuition" is right.

School starts on Wednesday. We meet with the teachers tomorrow night for an informational session. I will be sure to give his first grade teacher a head's up.

I'm not worried about how he will do in school this year because all of his classmates already know and accept that he "talks differently".

Fingers crossed for a smooth transition into first grade.

NSA Annual Conference

Information here: http://www.nsastutter.org/AnnualConference/ConferenceInformation/NSA-BBQ-Fireworks-Show.html

I wanted to bring Logan this year, but without the right notification, it isn't possible. I'm hoping to attend next year's if we can get financial aid to go. I think this will be good for the big guy.

Speaking of...his speech has been sporadic lately, at best. Some days he'll speak fluently, others he'll struggle. I noticed him blocking a lot this past weekend. He seems to be getting better with speaking openly about his speech. This is a good thing. He will begin summer speech therapy in July. Twice a week for 30 minutes each he will meet with the speech therapist. Our hope is that by continuing with therapy he'll keep moving forward.

Quiet Times

Logan's speech has been relatively normal lately. Very little stuttering. We'll take this! We received an invitation to summer camp for children who stutter. Unfortunately, it's quite expensive and the parents need to be there during the day summer camp. So, we'll see what other things we can get to. I'd love to attend a conference at some point. So that Logan can meet other children who stutter. Keeping our options open at this point.

It's been quiet lately and we're simply enjoying this time.

Difficult weekend

Logan had a rough weekend with his words. He stuttered for much of it. He didn't let it get him down though. We simply wait patiently for the words to come out and they usually do. I am finding that he uses the word, "welp" a lot. When he gets stuck on a word and has tried for a few seconds, sometimes he'll give up and say "welp". This is usually followed by another word, different from the one he became stuck on. I'm keeping my eyes on it and we'll see how it goes this week.

Here's a heartwarming story you might want to read.

UVA Student Spreading Awareness About Struggles of Stuttering

http://www.nbc29.com/story/17281403/uva-student-spreading-awareness-about-struggles-of-stuttering

Ice Cream Parlor Patrons Defend Stutterer Against Bullies

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/04/ice-cream-parlor-patrons-defend-stutterer-against-bullies/