Is there a stigma attached to Speech Therapy? Are kids bullied or teased because of their speech difficulties? Many parents/guardians hold off on getting their child help because they are worried about the social stigma attached to a child that requires special services. They worry about what their child’s peers will think about them with the label of a developmental disorder. Although children do not understand what a developmental disorder is, the children recognize that the child is different and use that to their advantage and make fun of the child.
Dr. Gordon Blood, head of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Penn State, has extensively studied bullying. Dr. Blood states, “Bullies tend to look for shy, timid children who appear nervous and withdrawn and have poor social and communication skills. Unfortunately, these are oftentimes the hallmarks of certain developmental disorders, including autism, stuttering, and specific language impairments (Blood).”
Bullying
Unfortunately bullying exists, and it is has a large presence in schools. Students are being exposed to different kinds of people – personalities, appearances, behaviors, abilities, etc. Unfortunately it is human instinct to prey on the weaker ones in the population. Students develop a sense about which students are a part of the “weaker population”, and for some reason they attack. Just because student A is not the same type of person as student B does not give student B the right to make fun of student A. It is unacceptable.
Students that are bullied and teased tend to have low self-confidence. If they hear what the others are saying too long, some start to believe whatever they are saying is true about themselves. This can be very dangerous.
Bullying isn’t just physical (hitting, kicking, and pushing) and verbal (name calling, mocking, and insulting) anymore. Now there is also social bullying. The child attempts to socialize with their peers and are shunned, leading to social isolation. Studies have shown that social bullying intensifies with time. This is why it is so important to intervene early.
Stopping the cycle
As a Speech Therapist, is there something you can do to help the child being bullied? YES! Working in the school you are with students all day. It is important to see how students are interacting, or not. Listening to the student (victim) is also important. If a student shares information about bullying incidents, it is important to praise the student since it can be difficult for the student to share. SpeechBuddy also offers advice for how Speech Therapists can help a student deal with bullying. The therapist can help the student develop “predetermined responses that will allow [them] to be assertive at school.”
Dr. Blood sums this up perfectly: “Bullies tend to look for the weakest link, but if that weakest link becomes stronger, it decreases the likelihood of bullying (Blood).”
As always, if you see something say something!
That’s the ramble for now.
The Journey of a Speech-Language Pathology Student 