A speech therapist is a person who helps people who have speech problems speak properly.  Though it is unfortunate, some people are hurt in accidents or have afflictions that interfere with their ability to talk.  This problem can be tragic because the ability to shape our thoughts into words and communicate our thoughts through speech is one of the things that make humans
different from the animals.
        Though a person who cannot talk is no less human because of that, speech is important for all things that we do.  In school, among our friends, at the store we speak in order to communicate our thoughts to others and make them understand what those thoughts are.  Such problems as stuttering or being unable to pronounce certain words or sounds interfere with the ability to communicate.  A speech therapist helps people correct those problems.  For this reason many schools have speech therapists on their staffs to help pupils with their ability to speak.

JEFFREY'S STUTTER

        Mr. Rand, the speech therapist, asked Jeffrey to pronounce a number of words.  Jeffrey said them quietly because he did not want the therapist to notice that he stuttered as he did not want his classmates to know that he stuttered.  That is why he never volunteered to answer questions in class.
        He said "letter" and "imagine" and "course" and "leaflet" for the therapist.  Mr. Rand then asked him to stand and say each word slowly such as "let-ter".  When doing so, Jeffrey said them without stuttering.  He was pleased that he could do that.  Bit by bit he said the words more quickly.  It took many weeks but Mr. Rand helped Jeffrey speak without stuttering.
        He began answering questions in class.  At first he was nervous doing so but eventually he became confident that he could answer without stuttering.  In the beginning he had some trouble but after a few weeks the problem went away, thanks to Mr. Rand and Jeffrey's desire and hard work.

Click here to return to the homepage