Jens (11) stutters. That is not always easy. Especially at school, with classmates who do not stutter, he sometimes feels alone. But last week it was different. Jens was at stuttering camp in Tilburg. With supervisors and twenty children around him who also stutter, Jens had a great time: “Now I see that I am not the only one.”
The children are in the De Grote Beemd childcare center in the Reeshof for three days. It’s a party on Thursday afternoon, because that’s when the ice cream truck comes. But it is a party with a challenge, because the children have to order their own ice cream.
“Ummm… mango passion. And coconut please,” asks Jens. Then it is Romy (6)’s turn: “Maggg…” She falls silent for a moment. And then: “Do you have pineapple?”
“They order strawberry because they don’t dare say pistachio.”
So simple, ordering an ice cream. But it can be very exciting for children who stutter, Femke de Smit knows. She is a speech therapist and stuttering therapist and one of the supervisors. At the camp she teaches the children to order what they want themselves: “So don’t ask mom or dad. Because they can do it very well themselves.”
De Smit knows that children sometimes do not order what they want because they do not dare to pronounce the word: “Then they order strawberry, even though they do not like it at all. But they don’t dare say pistachio. Shame, right? The ice cream man is patient, if the stutter lasts a little longer, then so be it.”
This is Jens’ third time at stuttering camp. “You make new friends who also stutter. That’s nice, because then you don’t feel so alone.” Jens tells his story with a heavy stutter, but also calmly and he looks at the reporter with a determined look.
“We teach older children to deal with stuttering confidently.”
De Smit looks on proudly. Her intention is not to help Jens get rid of his stutter at the camp. “In younger children it is possible to reduce it with techniques. But it remains with older children and then we teach them to deal with it confidently.”
At the end of the day, that’s what the open microphone is for. On a platform with spotlights, each child can briefly say something. There is no sign of shyness. Because the children have already learned that they have to look at people and stand firmly, with their legs apart.
“I stutter sometimes so let me finish.”
And the children are eager. They eagerly raise their fingers to get their turn. If Reon is allowed, he jumps up, grabs the microphone, taps it to check if the sound works and stands up: “Hi, I’m Reon, I stutter sometimes, so let me finish,” he says confidently. De Smit: “It is great for their later lives if the children already notice that they can communicate well themselves. And sometimes there is a stutter and sometimes there is not. But that doesn’t matter, what matters is what they have to say.”
Each child can tell us what he liked most that day and what he is proud of. This is easy for Jens: “I dared to talk to Omroep Brabant.” He steps off stage to loud applause.