StutterTalk

Dr. Charley Adams and Hanan Hurwitz join Peter Reitzes to discuss the 2018 Joint World Congress being held in Hiroshima, Japan.

One World, Many Voices: Science and Community is the Inaugural Joint World Congress of the International Cluttering Association (ICA), International Fluency Association (IFA) and International Stuttering Association (ISA), with local host organizations the Japan Society of Stuttering and Other Fluency Disorders and the Japanese Stuttering Genyukai Organization. This event will be held in Hiroshima, Japan, from July 13th-16th, 2018. See the list of keynote speakers here and participate on the Facebook page.

Charley F. Adams, Ph.D., is chair of the International Cluttering Association and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of South Carolina. Charley has led the Columbia chapter of the National Stuttering Association (NSA) since 2001, and served as a regional coordinator for the NSA from 2008 to 2013. In 2013, Charley was chosen as the NSA Speech Language Pathologist of the Year.

Hanan Hurwitz is a person who stutters, Director of Quality at Servotronix in Israel, serves on the International Stuttering Association’s Advisory Board and is part of the team that is planning the Inaugural joint world congress.

Colonel Frank T. Flannery joins Peter Reitzes for this Veterans Day special episode to discuss serving your country while stuttering. Colonel Flannery describes his military experience of being highly accepting of people who stutter.

Colonel Flannery discusses the daily challenges of stuttering and overcoming avoidance behaviors. Colonel Flannery shares how meeting other people who stutter in group speech therapy and at the National Stuttering Association conference is comforting and reassuring because their concerns and experiences mirror his own. Flannery mentions that being a covert stutterer in the military and in life is challenging because of the fear of discovery.

Colonel Frank T. Flannery, M.D., J.D. is a physician-attorney, is a graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law and the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine. He is a member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court and a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine. Dr. Flannery’s clinical practice experience includes emergency medicine, family medicine, and allergy and immunology. Following a long and distinguished career in the United States Army, he retired from the military in 2003 after 31 years of service at the rank of full Colonel. Dr. Flannery has authored more than 70 journal articles and book chapters in numerous publications, including the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Cardiology. The National Stuttering Association offers Colonel Flannery’s full bio on their Professionals Who Inspire Page.

Bob “the Expert” Quesal joins Peter Reitzes to discuss if speech-language pathologists (SLPs) should continue to evaluate and treat people who stutter. This is episode six in a series on the topic.

Dr. Quesalshares his huge disappointment in how the field of speech-language pathology trains SLPs to understand and treat stuttering. Dr. Quesal states, “The reason we are in the mess we are in right now is because ASHA has been involved”, “I have been appalled by the number of well educated SLPs who don’t understand stuttering at all” and “We can lobby ASHA until we are blue in the face, but ASHA has demonstrated over the last 30 years that they don’t care about stuttering – they don’t care about people who stutter.”

Bob and Peter agree that the scope of practice in speech-language pathology should be changed to exclude “general practitioners” from working with people who stutter until they achieve advanced training and certification in stuttering.

Robert Quesal, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a professor emeritus of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Western Illinois University, a person who stutters, a fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and a retired Board Certified Specialist in Fluency and Fluency Disorders.

Jack K. Henderson joins Peter Reitzes to discuss if speech-language pathologists (SLPs) should continue to evaluate and treat people who stutter. This is episode five in a series on the topic.

Mr. Henderson is asked about his initiative and research offering free of charge individual consultation for school SLPs working with children who stutter. Mr. Henderson reports that his work is positively impacting SLPs seeking support working with stutterers.

Jack K. Henderson, MS, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist in the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. He provides clinical services to those who stutter and their families, consults with school-based SLPs about their students who stutter, and is the director of Camp TALKS (Talking and Learning with Kids who Stutter).

Christopher Constantino joins Peter Reitzes to discuss if speech-language pathologists (SLPs) should continue to evaluate and treat people who stutter. This is episode four in a series on the topic.

Christopher Constantino, CCC-SLP, is a person who stutters living in Memphis, Tennessee where he is a speech-language pathologist in Shelby County Schools and a PhD candidate in communication sciences and disorders at the University of Memphis.

Jim McClure joins Peter Reitzes to discuss if speech-language pathologists (SLPs) should continue to evaluate and treat people who stutter. This is episode three in a series on the topic.

Mr. McClure reports feeling “fortunate” to have had very little speech therapy while in grade school and being “spared” from speech therapy in high school because he was covert. Jim discusses his concerns about the “scarcity of clinicians who really understand stuttering.” Mr. McClure mentions that litigation may be one way to educate the public about stuttering and to increase the number of SLPs who recuse themselves when they feel unqualified to treat a person who stutters.

Jim McClure is a person who stutters and is the former consumer member of the American Board of Fluency and Fluency Disorders. He serves on the National Stuttering Association’s advisory board and was a director and chapter leader for many years. Jim is a retired public relations consultant and has conducted consumer-oriented surveys of people who stutter.

Links mentioned on today’s episode:

* An Exploration of Clinicians Views About Assessment and Treatment of Stuttering (Tellis, Bresslaer & Emerick, 2008).

* The Experience of People Who Stutter: A Survey by the National Stuttering Association

Rodney Gabel joins Peer Reitzes to discuss if speech-language pathologists (SLPs) should continue to evaluate and treat people who stutter.

Dr. Gabel is asked to consider if individualized education programs (IEPs) related to stuttering should have warning labels, how to improve services for people who stutter, if there is evidence that school based speech therapy, in general, helps people who stutter and much more.

This is episode two in a series on the topic. Craig Coleman discussed the topic last week on StutterTalk.

Rodney Gabel is a professor at the University of Toledo. He is a speech-language pathologist, a board certified specialist in fluency disorders, and directs the Northwest Ohio Stuttering Clinic. Dr. Gabel is an active researcher who has published his research and presented his work work in a variety of venues. Dr. Gabel is also a person who stutters and an advocate for adults and children who stutter. Rod is Vice Chair of the Executive Board of the American Board of Fluency and Fluency Disorders speaking on his own behalf.

Links mentioned on today’s episode:

* ASHA’s Action Center

* Should Speech-Language Pathologists Treat People Who Stutter? (Part One with Craig Coleman, StutterTalk Ep. 629)

Craig Coleman joins Peter Reitzes to discuss if speech-language pathologists (SLPs) should continue to evaluate and treat people who stutter.

The house is on fire – are we smelling the smoke?

Craig Coleman, MA, CCC-SLP, BCS-F is an assistant professor at Marshall University and a Board-Certified Specialist in fluency Disorders. Mr. Coleman is currently serving as coordinator of ASHA SIG 4 (Fluency). Craig is an adjunct instructor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Co-Director of the Stuttering U summer program for children who stutter, their families, and SLPs.

Links mentioned on today’s episode:

* An Exploration of Clinicians Views About Assessment and Treatment of Stuttering (Tellis, Bresslaer & Emerick, 2008).

* American Board of Fluency and Fluency Disorders

* ASHA’s Code of Ethics

* Nonspeech Oral Motor Exercises: An Update on the Controversy (pdf) (Lof, 2009)

* Empathy Based Practice (Quesal, 2005)

* StutterTalk Book

Matthew White joins Peter Reitzes to discuss being a person who stutters in ROTC who is preparing for giving orders as an officer.

Matthew White is a student at North Carolina State University and a Navy Midshipman in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at NC State. Matthew has stuttered for a long time and began speech therapy recently to prepare for giving orders as an officer.

Brian Hamrick joins Peter Reitzes to discuss identifying as a person who stutters, growing up and out of stuttering, using rate control and syncopation to manage stuttering and so much more.

Brian Hamrick is a 41 year old father, husband, writer, product manager, guitar player, reader, Boy Scout Den leader, and music enthusiast. He graduated from Ursinus College with a BA in English Literature, Honors in Creative Writing. He worked through multiple speech issues in his childhood, from stuttering to annunciation/pronunciation issues (and a heavy New York accent).