If you've watch the documentary movie made available to the class from John Gomez "When I Stutter" , you can choose to do this assignment.

Select someone you know, or would like to get to know better, who has atypical speech or hearing, conduct a brief (~20 minute) interview with them, and write up a report of this interview.  This is intended to be a brief report, not a research paper.

Before the interview, educate yourself in advance using resources from our class website or other national organizations you may find through the American Speech and Hearing Association or the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders.  Or ask me if you lack resources.  

Start your written report by providing a description, based on your background reading, of the way in which your consultant's speech or hearing is atypical; this will encompass a brief clinical description. Cite your source(s) as you include this information in your report.  

Next, ask your consultant themself to describe the way in which their speech/hearing is atypical.  In synthesizing and presenting this, how does it compare with what you read?

Then, prepare several open-ended questions to ask your consultant that would help educate you about their experience.  Engage in active listening; avoid making presumptions. Here are some questions that you could consider (this is not to exclude other possibilities):

• what strategies do they use in their day-to-day life to help them communicate; 

• what can other people do in order to better communicate with them;

• what have they learned about themselves or others from having atypical speech/hearing; 

• what role if any does technology play in their communication; 

• what do they find to be supportive of language communication in their life;

• if their speech/hearing has changed during their lifetime, what's surprised them or changed for them; 

• do they have advice for other individuals with communication challenges (either their specific challenge or general challenges); 

Write up your interview, highlighting what you have learned.

Your consultant's identity/name should not be included in any way in your report.

A Note about Language: Some individuals and some advocacy groups prefer "person-first" language.  If this is the case , you will want to say, for example, "a person who stutters" (sometimes you read the acronym PWS), rather than "a stutterer."  Other individuals and advocacy groups prefer "identity-first" language. If this is the case, you will want to say, for example, "an autistic person" rather than "a person with autism."  These preferences by self-advocates also evolve over time. "What we want to be wary of is speaking over people who have the lived experience" (@specialbooksbyspecialkids, #SBSK). I recommend that you ask your consultant if they have a preference and use that choice in your writing.  You can also look at national advocacy groups' websites.  Regardless, your consultant's identity/name should not be included in any way in your report.

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