Stuttering Foundation Podcast

Want to share your feedback? Send us a message!

Researchers from the Delaware Stuttering Project at the University of Delaware—Dr. Ho Ming Chow, Associate Professor and principal investigator, Sayan Nanda, Ph.D. student, and Dr. Nicole Guarino, research scientist—join host Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP, to discuss their recent article, "Atypical gut microbiota composition in a mouse model of developmental stuttering," published in Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio). Building upon previous genetic and mouse model research by Dr. Dennis Drayna and colleagues at the NIH [previous podcast episode with Dr. Drayna linked below for background], their study explores the potential link between developmental stuttering and the gut-brain connection by examining gut microbiota differences in GNPTAB mouse models.

In this episode, Dr. Chow, Sayan Nanda, and Dr. Guarino provide essential background context before walking through the study’s development, methodology, and key findings. They discuss the potential role of the microbiome in other neurodevelopmental conditions, the challenges of translating mouse model research to human studies, and the exciting directions for future research this study has prompted.

Article discussed:

• Nanda, S., Lamot, B., Guarino, N. et al. Atypical gut microbiota composition in a mouse model of developmental stuttering. Sci Rep 14, 23457 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-74766-x

Previous Stuttering Foundation Podcast episode referenced, 'Genetics and Stuttering with Dr. Dennis Drayna.'

Delaware Stuttering Project Webpage

Dr. Ho Ming Chow, Associate Professor at the University of Delaware and a principal investigator for the Delaware Stuttering Project, received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Engineering at the University of Hong Kong. After working as an engineer for a few years, he became interested in studying human cognition and went to Germany for his doctoral study. He obtained his Ph.D. in Cognitive Sciences with an emphasis on Cognitive Psychology at the University of Osnabrück. He completed his postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health. Before joining the University of Delaware in 2019, he was a research faculty at the University of Michigan and Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware.

Sayan Nanda received his Master of Science in Data Informatics from the University of Southern California and his Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology. Sayan is currently a Ph.D. student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders department at the University of Delaware. Sayan is primarily interested in stuttering research and the application of statistics and machine learning techniques in the same. His focus is on neuroimaging.

Dr. Nicole Guarino is an adjunct faculty at the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, the University of Delaware. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from Thomas Jefferson University and her B.A. in Neuroscience from Franklin and Marshall College. She has been working in Dr. Chow’s lab since 2022 and is interested in the neurobiological bases of stuttering.

Want to share your feedback? Send us a message!

Gemma Clarke, MSc, BA (Hons), joins host, Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP, for an insightful introduction to Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and its potential role in stuttering (stammering) therapy. In this episode, Gemma explores key NLP principles, shares practical clinical applications and real-world examples, and discusses opportunities for further learning. 

Resources:

• Michael Palin Centre NLP Training Course (February 2025)
• Other training courses through MPC

Gemma Clarke, MSc, BA (Hons), works with young people who stammer, their parents, as well as with adults who stammer at The Michael Palin Centre in London, UK and in private practice . She is passionate about working holistically with clients, ensuring therapy is tailored to the specific needs of the child or young person and their family. Gemma is part of the MPC teaching team and teaches a range of MPC courses. She is responsible for delivering the Palin PCI Accreditation Programme and supports other SLTs through supervision.

Want to share your feedback? Send us a message!

David Luterman, Ed.D., CCC-SLP joins host Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP, to discuss empowering clients throughout the therapeutic journey. Dr. Luterman highlights the importance of establishing a collaborative relationship early in the process, avoiding the pitfalls of 'miracle working,' fostering client confidence, and making the client as self-sufficient as possible. Dr. Luterman walks listeners through practical examples within stuttering therapy with the aim of supporting client-driven discovery, confidence, and independence.

Related Resources:

• 60 Years of Clinical Teaching in Counseling: Reflections with Dr. David Luterman (Season 6: Episode 5, Stuttering Foundation Podcast)
• Sharpening Counseling Skills Course through Stuttering Foundation
• Parent Counseling: Conversations with David Luterman Parts 1 & 2 through Stuttering Foundation
• Counseling Persons with Communication Disorders as part of the Virtual Learning by Stuttering Foundation Series
• Counseling Persons with Communication Disorders Textbook
• Working on the Family Level as part of the Virtual Learning by Stuttering Foundation Series

David Luterman, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, is a professor emeritus at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts where he taught full-time for 40 years and he has continued to teach the counseling course for 20 more years beyond that (not something many people can say!). He is the author of many articles and several books, including his seminal book called Counseling Persons with Communication Disorders and Their Families, now in its 5th edition. He has done several podcasts and videos through the Stuttering Foundation called Counseling People who Stutter and Their Families and Conversations with Parents. In addition to authoring many books, he is a well-known teacher, researcher, consultant, and lecturer. Dr. Luterman is a fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and recipient of the Frank Kleffner Clinical Achievement Award (2011).

Want to share your feedback? Send us a message!

Kathleen Scaler Scott, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF, joins host Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP, to discuss all things cluttering. In this episode, Dr. Scaler Scott provides an updated overview of cluttering, including how we define and diagnose it with our current understanding. She shares insights into how the field is evolving, debunks myths, and explores the cluttering experience. Dr. Scaler Scott also highlights valuable resources for further learning and offers practical takeaways. Think of this episode as your updated foundation for understanding cluttering.

Resources:

• 'The Cluttering Experience' Rutger Wilhelm Stuttering Foundation Podcast Episode
• 'Cluttering: Expanding Evaluation & Treatment' Virtual Learning Session
• 'Cluttering: Shared Experiences' Virtual Learning Session
• Cluttering Conversations Podcast
• ASHA Leader Article: Debunking Myths About Cluttering
• Cluttering Curriculum Resources (as mentioned in episode)

Kathleen Scaler Scott, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF, is a practicing speech-language pathologist, Board Certified Specialist in Stuttering, Cluttering and Fluency, and Professor of Speech-Language Pathology at Misericordia University. She has been a practicing clinician for 30 years in hospital, school, and private practice settings. Dr. Scaler Scott’s research interests are largely in cluttering, atypical disfluency, and child language and literacy disorders. She has spoken nationally and internationally and authored peer reviewed articles, book chapters and books on the topic of fluency, literacy and pragmatic challenges. She was the first Coordinator of the International Cluttering Association, and is the recipient of the 2018 Deso Weiss Award for Excellence in the Field of Cluttering, and the 2018 Professional of the Year award from the National Stuttering Association. In 2020, Dr. Scaler Scott received the Judge Max and Tillie Rosenn Excellence in Teaching Award from Misericordia University. In 2022, she became a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.She is co-editor of Cluttering: A Handbook of Research, Intervention, and Education, co-author of Managing Cluttering: A Comprehensive Guidebook of Activities, author of Fluency Plus: Managing Fluency Disorders in Individuals with Multiple Diagnoses and co-author of the recently released Second Edition of the Source for Stuttering and Cluttering. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast Cluttering Conversations, a free podcast available on SoundCloud. 

Want to share your feedback? Send us a message!

Julia Kerrigan, B.A., current second year Master's student and the University of Iowa, and Shelley B. Brundage, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF, Fellow-ASHA, join host, Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP, to discuss a recent paper published in the Journal of Communication Disorders, 'Lived Experiences of Children who Stutter in Their Own Voices.' The authors begin by sharing a bit about their professional journeys into stuttering, research areas of interest, and then dive into discussing their motivation to further explore and document the lived experiences of young people who stutter where they emphasize the real need to increase this particular area of research within our field of stuttering. They proceed to walk through their design, findings, impressions, and areas of clinical consideration and application.

Lived Experiences of Children who Stutter in Their Own Voices
Julia S. Kerrigan; Shelley Brundage
September 2024
Journal of Communication Disorders
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2024.106468

FluencyBank

Julia Kerrigan, B.A. is a current second-year Master’s student at the University of Iowa and a Teaching Artist with the SPACE Community and Arts program.

Shelley B. Brundage, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF, Fellow-ASHA, is professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the George Washington University (GWU). She is a certified SLP and a board-certified specialist in stuttering, cluttering, and fluency. She is the co-chair of the tri-annual Oxford Stuttering and Cluttering Research Conference. Her research addresses clinical questions that enhance the lives of persons who stutter, by improving procedures for assessment, treatment, and clinical education in stuttering. Recent work has merged her expertise in assessing student learning outcomes with her expertise in the development and use of virtual reality technologies; this work has led to grants, publications, and awards for innovation. She teaches graduate courses on stuttering and research methods and is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching excellence and mentoring. She is the co-author of two books, the seventh edition of A Handbook on Stuttering and Writing Scientific Research in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Want to share your feedback? Send us a message!

Daniel Shaw, M.S., CCC-SLP, a pediatric SLP at the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center in Nashville, TN, joins host, Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP, to talk all things school-age and adolescent stuttering assessment. This episode was envisioned to speak to the SLP who has an introductory understanding of stuttering, but is hoping to increase their competency and effectiveness in a way that works within their limited time and resources. Think about this clinical conversation as if you decided to call up a colleague or friend who has more experience and ask, 'Help! I have a pediatric stuttering assessment coming up. Could you walk me through what you do and why?' 

While those emerging in their clinical comfort and expertise in stuttering will gain the most from this episode, there are plenty of clinical examples and insights shared that could be of support and benefit to all. Daniel and Sara walk listeners through: pre-assessment considerations, assessment planning and decision making, components to comprehensive assessment, both informal and formal options to assessing various areas, and plenty of clinical insights and considerations weaved throughout! 

Resource mentioned:

• The School-Age Child Who Stutters: Working Effectively With Attitudes and Emotions Workbook
• Consensus Guidelines for the Assessments of Individuals Who Stutter Across the Lifespan in American Journal of Speech Language Pathology, 30(6), 2379-2393 (2021). (Brundage, S.B., et al, 2021)

Daniel Shaw, M.S., CCC-SLP is a pediatric SLP at the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center in Nashville, TN, where he splits his time as the stuttering team lead for the pediatric program and as a lead SLP in the Preschool for Children with Autism. He also serves as associate director for Camp TALKS, a summer camp for school-age children who stutter, and as a member of the Autism Diagnostic team. Given the wide array of needs in the hospital, he provides support services across the lifespan. His passion lies in helping individuals who stutter explore acceptance of stuttering and experience the joy of communication. Prior to his role at Vanderbilt, Daniel served in the public school system in Nashville, TN.

Want to share your feedback? Send us a message!

Naomi Rodgers, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Ginger Collins, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, and Tim McCarren, M.A., CCC-SLP join host, Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP to discuss a recent research collaboration aiming to explore and better understand how SLPs can best support adolescents who stutter for life after high school through transition planning. 

Naomi, Ginger, and Tim discuss the need for better guidelines and support for SLPs who support high schoolers who stutter within transition planning, more about transition planning in general, as well as understanding the legal aspects of transition plans for high school students. They share findings from their study's focus groups, specific feedback from various stakeholders, use of their discussion guide (linked below), and finally, offer practical tips for school-based SLPs. 

This is a really fabulous and rich episode guaranteed to support SLPs who work with students who stutter across the age span, but particularly those who work with adolescents and want to understand how to best prepare students for the next phases of their lives. A must listen and a very timely back-to-school release!

Resources mentioned:

• Postsecondary Transition Planning with Students Who Stutter Discussion Guide
• Pre-print of article (under review) 
• Job Accommodation Network (askJAN)
• ASHA: Post Secondary Transition Planning
• NSA Career Success

Bios:
Dr. Naomi Rodgers is an assistant professor at the University Iowa where she directs the Iowa Stuttering Lab and teaches courses in stuttering, counseling, and clinical methods. Her experiences as a person who stutters and speech therapist inspire her research on the cognitive, emotional, and social aspects of stuttering and stuttering therapy, with a particular interest in these topics in adolescence. She is active in the stuttering support community, leading the Iowa City chapter of the National Stuttering Association and also volunteering for FRIENDS (the National Association of Young People Who Stutter). She also co-directs UI SHINE, which is a summer program at the University of Iowa for young people who stutter or who are Deaf/hard of hearing. 

Dr. Ginger Collins is a professor at the University of Montana, where she is also the Program Director. Dr. Collins directs the Motivational Adolescent Research in Vocabulary and Expressive Literacy (AKA- MARVEL) Lab and is a founding member of the Structured Word Inquiry Research Vanguard (AKA- SWIRV). Dr. Collins teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in language and literacy disorders and a graduate course in stuttering. Her research is primarily focused on literacy interventions targeting morphological knowledge and preparing adolescents for life after school through thoughtful transition planning.

Tim McCarren is a speech language pathologist with Hopkins Public Schools in Hopkins, Minnesota. Tim also leads the Twin Cities adult chapter of the National Stuttering Association. During the summer, he participates in two different camps for kids who stutter. He co-leads the Sioris Family Camp for Kids Who Stutter, a day camp through the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and he is a member of the clinical team at Star Lake Out Loud, a sleep-away camp in Northern Minnesota. Tim is also a person who stutters, and loves to incorporate theatre and improv activities as ways to introduce risk taking, spontaneous communication, community building, and acceptance.

Want to share your feedback? Send us a message!

Kristin Chmela, M.A., CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF joins host, Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP to explore and discuss the importance of committing to easier and relaxed microtransitions to build mindfulness and connection. Kristin recently gave a TEDx talk, 'Microtransitions Build Connections,' which was the inspiration for this conversation. During this episode, we explore the concept of microtransitions, the potential positive impact on communication, creating connection, the stuttering experience, and more!

Resources mentioned:

• Microtransitions Build Connections TEDx Talk
• Life is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age by Bruce Feiler
• The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
• Books (for adults and children) by Dr. Christopher Willard
• Wherever You Go There You Are: Jon Kabat-Zinn
• Search Inside Yourself: Chade Meng-Tan
• Buddha's Brain:  The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, & Wisdom Rick Hanson with Richard Mendius
• Mindfulness Speaks: Considerations in Stuttering Therapy, previous Virtual Learning Session by Kristin Chmela

Bio: Kristin Chmela, M.A., CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF is a board certified fluency specialist and has provided services to individuals with fluency disorders for thirty-five years.  She is an author, lecturer, consultant, and owner and director of Chmela Communication Center in the Chicago suburban area. Kirstin is the co-founder and co-director of the Treatment and Training Program at Camp Shout Out.  In addition, Kristin has completed 400 hours of training in yoga and mindfulness as well as the Stop and Breathe training course.  She is passionate about sharing the mindfulness experience with professionals, clients, and others.

References:
Michael P. Boyle, Mindfulness training in stuttering therapy: A tutorial for speech-language pathologists. Journal of Fluency Disorders, Volume 36, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 122-129, ISSN 0094-730X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2011.04.005.

Harley J. The role of attention in therapy for children and adolescents who stutter: Cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based interventions. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2018;27:1139–51 

Mongia, M., Gupta, A. K., Vijay, A., & Sadhu, R. (2019). Management of stuttering using cognitive behavior therapy and mindfulness meditation. Industrial psychiatry journal, 28(1), 4–12. https://doi.org/10.4103/ipj.ipj_18_19 

Moreno- Jiménez, Jennifer & Carvajal, Raquel & García Rubio, Carlos & Castillo Gualda, Ruth & Montero, Ignacio. (2021). Long-Term Effectiveness of a Mindfulness Based Interven

Tang, Yi-Yuan (2017). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation: How the body and mind work together to change our behavior. Springer International Publishing: Cham, Switzerland.

Want to share your feedback? Send us a message!

Dr. Cara Singer, Assistant Professor at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, joins host, Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP, to discuss a recent case study published in Perspectives:  'Treating a Young Child Who Stutters' Lateral Lisp: A Case Study' with her co-collaborator and student, Ellianne Martin. Cara shares her motivation for further exploring speech sound impairments in young children who stutter, overviews the literature thus far within the areas of both motor-based and phonological-based speech sound impairments with children who stutter, and proceeds to walk us through the case background, treatment protocol, and rationales. Cara discusses decision-making considerations when working with children who stutter who have motor-based speech sound impairments, as well as special considerations within therapy to facilitate positive communication attitudes and confidence.

Case Study discussed from Perspectives, October 2023:
Treating a Young Child Who Stutters' Lateral Lisp: A Case Study

Cara M. Singer Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communications Sciences and Disorders at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI. She conducts research related to evaluation and treatment practices for children who stutter and attitudes towards stuttering. Additionally, she teaches and supervises speech-language pathology undergraduate and graduate students in clinical and research settings.

Want to share your feedback? Send us a message!

Rutger Wilhelm, author of 'Too Fast For Words,' speaker, and personal who clutters from the Netherlands, joins host, Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP to discuss all things cluttering. Rutger shares his personal experience as a clutterer, his journey to obtaining an accurate diagnosis, what has helped him to feel more confident and competent as a communicator, and his advocacy work aimed to increase awareness and understanding of cluttering worldwide. He further speaks about the nuances and differences between stuttering and cluttering, in addition to the importance of community.

Resources discussed in today's episode:

• Too Fast For Words
• International Cluttering Association
• Too Fast For Words YouTube Channel

Rutger Wilhelm is chair-elect of the International Cluttering Association and also runs the consumer committee within that same organization. He is author of the book Too Fast For Words and owner of  the website; toofastforwords.com. Rutger is often a speaker at international congresses and board member of the Dutch Stuttering association.