Alex is 9-year-old. 

Alex loves her cat.

Alex loves to draw.

Alex loves to talk.

Alex stutters (sometimes.)

Alex enjoys seeing her speech therapist to talk about speech stuff and learn how to communicate freely.

One of the strategies Alex has learned to love is pausing between every few words.  Using a sort of cadence that sounds natural, and also helps her words come out more easily.

She has customized this speech strategy to work for her, in a way that is easy to do, not distracting to her or her listener, and it gives her the ability to get better results, speaking her mind and sharing her creativity, interests and feelings with more ease.

Alex internalized it so much, she made the connection between her speech and her beloved cat.

She re-framed pausing (a speech strategy) as similar to her adorable pet cat’s “paws.”