Reaching well over 43,571 pediatri-cians with the latest information aboutstuttering is a goal The StutteringFoundation will realize this fall. In anexciting development, that informationis now available on a new DVD withEnglish and Spanishversions of Stutteringand Your Child: Helpfor Families.

With a new grantfrom The AnnenbergFoundation, the SFAwill complete the ambi-tious project begunthree years ago—toreach every pediatricoffice across the coun-try with effectiveguidelines on when torefer and information toshare with parents.

This year’s mailingto 6,386 pediatric prac-tices—often with asmany as eight pediatri-cians in each—in New York,Pennsylvania and New Jersey will bringto 43,571 the number of practices whichhave been sent the 16-page book TheChild Who Stutters: To the Pediatrician,the video/DVD Stuttering and The

Preschool Child, brochures and contactinformation for resources.

With each package costing approxi-mately $10, the total expenditure on theproject exceeds $430,000. For the pastthree years, The Annenberg Foundation

has helped support thiscritical undertaking.

Last fall, the SFA sentinformation packets to5,251 pediatric officesthroughout Michigan,Minnesota, Missouri,Mississippi, Montana,North Carolina, NorthDakota, Nebraska,New Hampshire, NewMexico, Nevada, andOhio.

Back in 1991, theSFA started exhibitingat the Convention ofthe American Academyof Pediatrics and real-ized the need to devel-op materials specifical-

ly for physicians. A group of profes-sionals was convened to create a bookspecifically for pediatricians, which of-fers “the necessary information in aclear and succinct manner,” according

Having made it big in New York,there is quite a contingent of young peo-ple who stutter who know they canmake it anywhere. The Our TimeTheatre Teens lit up a New York stage tokick off National Stuttering AwarenessWeek (NSAW) in style.

The May 10 gala was a tremendoussuccess, said SFA President Jane Fraser,who attended the festivities and intro-duced SFA Board member AlanRabinowitz, 2004 recipient of the OurTime Award.

FALL 2004

A Nonprofit Organization Since 1947... Helping Those Who Stutter

New Research on theRoots of StutteringLanguage Processing andSpeech Motor Control:Complex Interactions inStuttering

By Christine Weber-Fox, Ph.D., CCC-SLPPurdue University

In the last decade, accumulating evi-dence from laboratories in the U.S. andEurope, as well as our own, led to the de-velopment of a multi-factorial model ofstuttering. This model of stuttering hy-pothesizes that stuttering emerges fromcomplex interactions among factors in-

cluding genetics,language processing,emotional/social as-pects, and speechmotor control.Ultimately, stutteringoccurs when the neu-ral signals that pro-duce the coordinatedmovements in therespiratory, vocal,and articulation sys-

tems become disrupted. The underlyingnotion is that the functions of the brainareas for speech motor control are affect-ed by complex interactions with otherneural systems. One important underly-ing assumption of this model is that thesefactors may not play the same role in dif-ferent individuals who stutter and verylikely vary in significance over differentstages of development.

In our recent series of complementaryexperiments we studied how neural sys-tems for language processing may con-tribute to disruptions in speech motorcontrol in people who stutter. We haveexamined this question using two ap-proaches. First, using a very sensitivemovement tracking system, we havebeen able to analyze speech movementswith an accuracy of less than .1 mm todetermine how consistently and smooth-

SFA Outreach Tops 43,571 Pediatricians English/Spanish DVD superb new resource

THE

STUTTERINGFOUNDATION ®

Stuttering and Your Child:Help for Families

LaTartamudez y Su Niño: Una Guía para la Familia

In English and in Spanish

3100 Walnut Grove Road, Suite 603P.O. Box 11749 • Memphis, TN 38111-0749

www.stutteringhelp.org • www.tartamudez.org1-800-992-9392

©

2004

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DVD No. 0073

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1-800-992-9392 www.stutteringhelp.org

A Part Of It In Ol’ NY

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THESTUTTERINGFOUNDATION

� Media Awards Announced� Stuttering: For Kids, By Kids

Premieres at Friends’ Convention� Highlights of Two-Day Conference� Kids Write About Stuttering� New Tape on Preschoolers

Pediatricians are often the “frontline” for families concerned aboutstuttering. The SFA this fall willsend 6,386 pediatric offices thisnew DVD with English andSpanish versions of Stuttering andYour Child: Help for Families.

Our Time Teens David Nachman, KeithRussell, Jonathan Greig, Donny Sethi, andCorom Buksha were among the cast in acrowd-pleasing performance May 10.

Christine WeberFox, Ph.D.

Editor’s Note: As we go to press, an arti-cle on this study by Dr. Weber-Fox alsoappeared in the New York Times.

“How did you manage to get so manygreat speakers at one conference?” askedone participant. “I felt like I had locatedthe pot of gold at the end of the rainbow--and I needed that! I was particularly im-pressed that each speaker listened to theother speakers.”

Small group leaders Susan Cochrane,Patrice Carothers, Susan Dietrich,Joseph Donaher, Sheryl Gottwald, EliseKaufman, Ann McKeehan and BarbaraMoore-Brown guided participants asthey practiced fluency shaping and stut-tering modification skills. Discussiongroups also scored high for offering thechance for individualized learning.

Many SLPs at the conference notedthat they had received little training instuttering as part of their formal educa-tion—the primary reason The StutteringFoundation underwrites such confer-ences each year.

1-800-992-93922 www.stutteringhelp.org

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A is for “Awesome” Say Two-Day Workshop ParticipantsA good teacher helps students

grow in knowledge and gain confidencein applying new skills. Judging by theirremarks, speech-language pathologistsat the SFA’s conference had 14 superbteachers, and grew exponentially in theirability to help those who stutter.

Stuttering Therapy, Practical Ideasfor the School Clinician brought togeth-er 100 SLPs from schools, private prac-tice and university clinics to learn from14 of the nation’s top professionals in thearea of stuttering, June 11-12, 2004, inCincinnati, Ohio. If comments such as“awesome” are any indication, it was agreat experience.

“This is the best conference I havebeen to in my eight years of practice,”wrote one participant. “The speakers areknowledgeable and approachable. Ilearned more in these two days than I didin a nine-week course I took in gradschool. Thank you for the opportunity.”

Presenters Barry Guitar, CharlesHealey, Peter Ramig, Bill Murphy,Patricia Zebrowski and Kristin Chmelaoffered practical strategies for evaluatingand treating children who stutter, coun-seling parents, working with teenagers,and devising strategies to handle suchproblems as teasing and peer pressure.

Conference leaders, from left; front: SFA President Jane Fraser, Susan Cochrane, SusanDietrich, Patricia Zebrowski, Sheryl Gottwald, back: Charles Healy, Bill Shannon, Joe Donaher,Barbara Moore Brown, Lisa Scott Trautman, Peter Ramig, Ann McKeehan, Kristin Chmela,Elisa Kaufman, Kerry Stanton, Patrice Carothers and Barry Guitar. Not pictured, Bill Murphy.

“I have a particular client that I havebeen concerned about for a while andnow I feel much more confident abouttherapy because I have more tools,” saidone.

“This conference hasmade me passionate fordisfluent clients now. Ihave learned so much.You all are awesome.”

—Conference participant

Time to network and share caseloadproblems is also built in to the two days.

Last year, SFA board member AlanRabinowitz recounted his own strugglegrowing up with stuttering. Rabinowitz,the Director of the Science andExploration Program at the Wildlife

Small group leader Susan Dietrich, left, with conference attendees. Small group discussion al-lows for answers to specific questions and for practicing treatment skills.

“I learned more in thesetwo days than I did in anine-week course I took ingrad school.”

—Conference participant

Conservation Society, was in Costa Ricathis year at the dedication of a wildlifesanctuary for jaguars he worked to helpprocure. A letter from him read by BarryGuitar still brought tears to the eyes ofmany who left the conference withgreater understanding for those whostutter as well as better therapy skills.

“This conference has truly made mepassionate for disfluent clients now. I amso impressed with this conference for itscost. I have been to so many expensivetwo-day conferences and come home sodisappointed—not here. You all wereawesome.”

The Stuttering Foundation’s two-dayconference is typically held the secondweekend in June. For more informationcall 1-800-992-9392, email info@stut-teringhelp.org, or watch the SFA’s website at www.stutteringhelp.or for a down-loadable application.

Time to talk about caseloads and network is built intothe conference.

Kids who stutter have a lot to say,and friends can show them how inStuttering: For Kids, By Kids, a newDVD that premiered at the Friends:The Association of Young People WhoStutter convention in San Francisco.

Many children who stutter havenever met anyone else who struggleswith the same disability. But in thisnew video from The StutteringFoundation, they hear other kids whorecount how they handle challengessuch as teasing, speaking out in class,and teaching others about stuttering.

Because the DVD is for kids them-selves, the annual gathering of Friends,a nonprofit which runs support groupsnationwide, was a natural venue atwhich to premiere the 12-minute film.

Swish, a lively and engaging ani-mated basketball character designed bystudents at Purdue University, narratesthe video. The children who star rangein age from first-grade to high school,and they offer frank and sometimes dif-ferent views of stuttering.

For example, Matthew, age 10, saysabout his stuttering, “It’s no big deal;”but Kate, age 9, worries about herspeech, what is going to happen nextand whether or not she’ll stutter.

Arianne , age 14,says, “It’s not abig deal becauseit isn’t about whoI am as a person.”

Kids who pre-viewed the videoat the Friendsconference inJuly had somepretty frank opin-ions too, enthusi-astically casting

Mass media plays a critical role in rais-ing awareness about stuttering and whatcan be done to help.

To recognize superior reporting on thetopic in print and electronic media, TheStuttering Foundation instituted the MediaAwards for Excellence 13 years ago. Weare pleased to announce the seven winnersfor 2004, each of whom has enhancedpublic understanding of this complexspeech disorder that affects millions ofpeople.

First place in theDaily Newspapercategory went toJason Hidalgo ofThe Reno Gazette-Journal (Reno,Nev.). A health re-porter and Sundaycolumnist, Hidalgoin his article Helpfor Stutterers? ex-

plored whether electronic devices on themarket can really help people who stut-ter. He presented the evidence in a fairand balanced way and provided addi-tional resources readers could contactfor help.

Second placewent to NataliaMielczarek of TheTennessean for herarticle entitledLearning to Copewith Stuttering.Mielczarek con-veyed to readerswhat it’s like tostutter as a teenagerand offered sources of help and inspira-tion.

First place in the category ofColumnists went to Linda LewisGriffith, of The San Luis Obispo

Tribune. Classroomsituations can beterrifying for chil-dren who stutter,and Griffith provid-ed some good ad-vice to teachers andparents in her col-umn, StutteringKids NeedAssurance fromTeachers.

Parent to Parent advice columnistJodie Lynn won second place for her

piece that answeredan anxious parent’sletter about a five-year-old child whostutters. The columnincluded recom-mendations on howto get free assis-tance through theschool system.

Third place win-ner is Evelyn Peterson. In her AskEvelyn advice column, she answered ateacher’s query about afour-year-old childwho may be stuttering,providing reassuranceand tips on how to helpthe child’s fluency.

The first place win-ner in the Magazinecategory was DanCosta of ScholasticParent & Child maga-zine. His question-and-answer interviewwith speech-language pathologist LisaScott Trautman, Ph.D., of The FloridaState University, in Focus on Healthgave clear and easy-to-understand an-swers to common questions about stut-tering.

The second-place magazine winnerwas writer Michael Medley, of OCFamily and Inland Empire Family mag-azines, with Say the Right Thing. Thiswell-researched story on childhood stut-tering included a boxed sidebar with 10tips for talking to clip out and post onthe refrigerator door.

Each of The Foundation’s first placewinners received a cash award of $250.

To submit an article for next year’sMedia Awards for Excellence, write TheStuttering Foundation at 3100 WalnutGrove Road, Suite 603, P.O. Box 11749,Memphis, TN 38111-0749, call toll-free1-800-992-9392, or email info@stutter-inghelp.org.

FALL 2004 31-800-992-9392

Media Awards Recognize QualityReporting About Stuttering

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Stuttering: For KidsPremieres at Friends

Linda LewisGriffith

Natalia Mielczarek

Jason Hidalgo

Jodie Lynn

Evelyn Petersen

Intent on the film. Continued on page 4

Do you give through UnitedWay? You can still directly

designate your gift to the SFA!Proof of nonprofit status can besent to your employer by fax,

mail or email.

Give the United Way

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4 www.stutteringhelp.org

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1-800-992-9392

Joe Donaher with Debbie and Dan Squiresat the SFA table at the Friends conference.

themselves in the role of “film critics.”“What we want you to do is tell us

your opinion,” said Lisa Scott Trautman,co-producer, in introducing the video toa roomful of 5-11 year olds.

“Can we give it a rating?” asked one10-year-old. “With a good rating, somemovies make like $300 million.”

Since The Stuttering Foundation is anonprofit organi-zation that makesits publicationsavailable at orbelow cost, that’snot likely.

However, onething that is trueabout the film isthat, “peopleshould treat you like every-one else,” said Linnea, age 8.

“I liked the basketball[Swish]. It was the best part,”said Danielle, age 9.

While the ratings systemswere a bit erratic, rangingfrom “2 thumbs up” to“A++++” to “3 stars,” oneprimary message from thevideo came through strongand consistent on everyone’scritique: “it’s okay to stutter.”

Stuttering: For Kids, By Kids is About Friends“Well, my best advice for kids who

stutter would be probably that they’re notalone and that there are a ton of other kidsout there who stutter,” says Naomi, in thevideo.

“Anyone interested in helping kidslearn more about stuttering will want tosee this tape,” said SLP Joe Donaher ofChildren’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Thechildren featured are a perfect example of

how to openly andhonestly handlestuttering.”

“This is an im-portant tool for

families, friends,and teachers ofkids who stuttertoo, added JaneFraser, SFA presi-dent.

Stuttering: ForKids, By Kids isavailable in VHSor DVD free ofcharge to all pub-lic libraries. Formore information,call 1-800-992-9392.

Lindsey, top left, and Lisa, bottom, listen to comments. At right, Samantha and Linnea write reviews. Kidscan be tough critics, but most agreed that seeing other kids talk about their stuttering was pretty cool, theyliked what they saw, and “other kids who stutter” should watch Stuttering: For Kids, By Kids.

Continued from page 3

A low golf score canmean a large donation tohelp those who stutter.

The SFA was a benefi-ciary of the Al Geiberger“Mr. 59” Golf Invitationalthis spring.

Golfers gathered April22-24 in Palm Desert, CAto play with golf greats AlGeiberger and special

guest Ken Venturi, former U.S. OpenChampion, CBS sports commentator,and SFA spokesman.

The tournament commemorates thescore of 59—at the time the lowest everin an official PGA Tour event—shot byAl Geiberger on June 10, 1977, at theDanny Thomas-Memphis Classic, a ben-efit for St. Jude’s Hospital.

“If I had to pick a golf course whereyou could not shoot 59, it’s the golfcourse he shot it on,” said Venturi, whostuttered severely as a youngster, to 240

people gatheredfor a banquetand auction thatraised $20,000for charity.

“It’s one ofthe greatest ac-complishmentsa human beingcan make to gofrom barelyputting togethertwo words tobeing a national broadcaster up in thebooth,” said amateur golfer and busi-nessman Gary Shemano of Venturi.

“We are thrilled to be the recipients ofthis generous gift to the Foundation,”said SFA president Jane Fraser in PalmDesert. “On behalf of all those who stut-ter and their families, I wish to thankKen Venturi, Al Geiberger and all thoseassociated with the “Mr. 59” Invitationalwho made this possible.”

Jane Fraser and KenVenturi at the “Mr. 59”Golf Invitational.

Celebrity Golf Tournament Benefits SFA

Tournamentco-organizerand long-timeSFA friendBob Foote.

Ken, Kathleen Venturi and Al Geiberger at thebanquet. Golfers pay as much as $975 for twodays of golf and parties with Geiberger and hiscelebrity guest. “The tournament is certainly fora good cause. They asked me if I’d come helpand I said I’d love to,” Venturi told The DesertSun. The Palm Desert newspaper prominentlycovered the tournament’s 20th year.

A voice advocating forthose who stutter was heardacross the world this spring,when SFA President Jane

Fraser was interviewed by The Voice ofAmerica radio.

The focus of the show, which airs inforeign countries across the globe but notin the U.S., was on Stuttering AwarenessWeek. It provided an opportune time tolet people know about resources and or-ganizations available to them whereverthey live.

The Foundation alone provides publi-cations in 22 languages and mails mate-rials to more than 60 countries each year.Of course, the Web site is accessibleworldwide, and offers an internationalreferral list of speech-language patholo-gists and programs specializing in stut-tering treatment. The SFA’s Spanish site,www.tartamudez.org, reaches an ever-growing number of people as well.

Fraser was a guest on The LarryMeiller Show on Wisconsin PublicRadio again this year. The 45- minutelive segment focused on NationalStuttering Awareness Week, and whatcan be done to help those who stutter.

The call-in talk show aired through-out the greater Wisconsin area, andprompted much feedback from that andsurrounding states.

The SFA will have reached43,571 pediatric officeswith the latest informationon stuttering.

Annenberg

FALL 2004 51-800-992-9392

Continued from page 1

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to Michael B. Grizzard, M.D., a consul-tant on the project.

A new third edition of The ChildWho Stutters: To the Pediatrician re-flects gains made in the field in the in-

tervening years. The book now includesan etiology and a chart delineating thedifferences between normal disfluen-cies, mild stuttering and severe stutter-ing, with suggestions for when an SLPshould be consulted.

The Child Who Stutters: to thePediatrician may be downloaded forfree from the Foundation’s Web site. Itis also available on the Foundation’sSpanish site at www.tartamudez.org.

Personal remembrances on the retire-ment of Buddy Morgan from MPLMedia and as videographer for SFA.

Carroll Guitar, SFA video coordinator:Buddy was not only delightful to

work with while we were shooting invarious locations but also did an out-standing job in coaching the professorsand directing them in sometimes seem-ingly endless takes to get it just right!

In the studio, Buddy worked tire-lessly to knit together video images,audio tracks, graphics, and music for aseamless production. He had humor,Southern charm and a real interest inhelping those who stutter.

Buddy Morgan:I've been in Memphis since 1959,

and worked all over the world filmingfor the National Cotton Council, learn-ing my trade. It was film back then be-fore we converted to video. I've beenwith MPL for the past 25 years, andconverted them to video, too.

What was really nice about workingwith SFA was that there was always ascript: detail was taken care of. It wasalways fun because the people were sonice and willing to try something new.

I guess I've worked with every oneof the professors. I shot them all at one

Buddy, My Buddy,Your Buddies Will Miss You

time or another.All the peopleSFA selected tobe in the videoswere truly profes-sionals.

I've learned alot about stutter-ing over the years. I stuttered myself asa real young child.

Jane Fraser:I first met Buddy back in the late

1980s or so when we first began towork on reproducing some old filmsfrom the '70s: the Van Riper series, theold Hal Starbuck tapes and the earlyPrevention of Stuttering series.

Thanks to encouragement—andprodding—by Charles Van Riper, webegan to turn our attention to producinga new generation of videotapes, the firstof which was directed by Ed Conture,then at Syracuse University.

Buddy and the Motion Picture Labteam came into the picture in "glue-ing" the footage of professors, children,and the narration together into a seam-less product. And that of course wasonly the beginning.

Now some 27 tapes later, there is nota one in which Buddy Morgan didn'tplay an important role.

Buddy Morgan

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Reaching OutWorldwide ThroughThe Radio

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Booths Rock at ASHA and TSHA ConferencesBaltimore was the setting for the

largest ASHA Schools Conference ever,and the SFA booth kept pace.

“The 2004 conference drew morethan 700 people, and it felt like all ofthem were equally drawn to our booth,”said Deborah Squires. “With wonderfulspeech-language pathologists such asVivian Sisskin and Barbara Moore-Brown helping out, of course it became amecca for SLPs seeking answers toquestions about stuttering treatment.

“It’s always great to hear how our ma-terials are making a difference and howmuch SLPs appreciate the affordabilityand quality. At the end of the two days,all that was left fit easily in a tote bag.”

San Antonio was the site for theTexas Speech-Hearing Association con-ference, which also provided a wonder-ful opportunity to talk with SLPs, hearabout their needs, help answer questions,and let them see first-hand how The

Jennifer Watson, left, and Deb Squires in theSFA booth in San Antonio, TX.

Stuttering Foundation can help.Thanks to Jennifer Watson, Ph.D., of

Texas Christian University, for her fabu-lous help in the booth! Thanks, also, toRuss Hicks and Joseph Diaz for servingas “official photographers.”

Teens performed with cast membersfrom STOMP, music director EverettBradley, and others before a packedhouse at the Lucille Lortel Theater.Emmy-award winning actress JaneAlexander was the host.

“The Our Time Gala was spectacu-lar!” said director Taro Alexander. “Itwas incredi-bly powerfulto celebratethe courage,strength, joy,and creativi-ty of peoplewho stutter.The eveningfilled us allwith hopeand pride,and we lookforward tocelebratingnext spring.”

NSAW Gala in New York

6 www.stutteringhelp.org 1-800-992-9392

Our Time Theatre is a nonprofit or-ganization dedicated to providing anartistic home for young people andadults who stutter.

To celebrate NSAW, the Our Time

Continued from page 1

6,000 Strong and GrowingCleo Brooks, senior librarian for disabledservices, looks at SFA publications in thecollection in the stunning new SeattlePublic Library. Over 6,000 public librariesnow shelve SFA materials, which are pro-vided to them free of charge. Check out ourlibrary listings page online at www.stutter-inghelp.org to see what’s available at yourlibrary. If they don’t have SFA books andtapes, please have them call 1-800-992-9392or email info@stutteringhelp.org.

Eric Gunhus, left, anactor in the Broadwayshow, The Producers,touts the SFA newsletterto Everett Bradley, OurTime musical director.

Special Education Law and Children Who StutterA child who stutters may be eligible

to receive speech therapy for free fromthe local school district—even a child asyoung as three years old or one attendinga private school.

Federal law mandates that state edu-cation agencies and local school districtsprovide special education services tochildren ages 3-21, including speechtherapy.

To help parents understand specialeducation law, the SFA has published anew brochure, Special Education Lawand Children Who Stutter.

Written by Lisa Scott Trautman,Ph.D., the brochure explains in simple,direct, parent-centered language howchildren are identified, screened, evalu-ated, and determined to be eligible forservices. There is a lengthy discussion ofhow speech therapy plans are developedfor each child and the parents’ roles inthe process. Differences in these pro-cesses for children who are enrolled inprivate schools are discussed, and speechtherapy options are presented for chil-dren who are ineligible for services fromthe schools.

The full, four-color brochure is avail-able for 10 cents through theFoundation’s catalog and online store, ormay be downloaded for free from theWeb site. While space does not permitthe full text to be printed here, followingis an edited version with some majorpoints about getting help.

Getting Started and the ScreeningIf a child attends elementary school,

the teacher may recommend a screening.The parent of a preschooler may contactthe local school district directly and askthat their child be screened for stutteringor ask their pediatrician to make a referral.

The child may be screened by oneperson or by a team of professionals.Parents will be asked about the child’sgeneral development, their current con-cerns about his speech, and general in-formation about the family. Then, theperson or team will play with the child,

During an eval-uation, a parentshould tell thespeech-languagepathologist (SLP) when the child firststarted to talk, when he first noticed thestuttering, whether it has changed overtime, how her talking changes in differentspeaking situations, and whether there isa history of stuttering in the family.

Is My Child Eligible?After the evaluation, a team com-

prised of the parent, the SLP and some-one from the local school will determinewhether the child is eligible for speechtherapy. The eligibility decision is basedon 1) the testing results from the evalua-tion, 2) how these results compare to theeligibility guidelines used by the schooldistrict, 3) parent input, 4) how thechild’s stuttering affects him in school,and 5) the team’s opinions regardingwhether the child would benefit fromtherapy.

The Individualized Education PlanIf the child is eligible, an Individual

Education Plan (IEP) will be writtenwithin 30 days. If a child is not eligible,parents must be notified why in writingand given information about what to doif they disagree.

The IEP lays out the therapy plan forthe child and states what services thechild will receive. It is developed withinput from parents, the child’s teacher,

Even a child as youngas 3 years old or one inprivate school may beeligible for free speechtherapy from the localschool district.

listen to his talking, and observe how heplays with toys and interacts with others.

After the screening, a team of profes-sionals will meet to discuss the results. Iffurther evaluation is necessary, the par-ents will be contacted for permission toschedule a comprehensive evaluation todetermine whether a child’s stutteringmakes her eligible for speech therapy.The law also requires that parents be onthe team that makes the final decision re-garding eligibility. Continued on page 12

Director Taro Alexander, right, and JaneFraser, SFA president, congratulate AlanRabinowitz on receiving the 2004 award.

Most experts agree that early inter-vention is critical in stuttering therapy.Yet many have questions about work-ing directly with preschoolers.

In this new video, KristinChmela, one of today’sleading professionals influency in young children,offers comprehensive andpractical strategies forsuccessful intervention.Demonstrations of actualtherapy sessions modeleasy speech, and parentsshare their stories about beinginvolved in treatment.

“In my opinion, hers is a very wellput-together program for preschool in-tervention. I am certainly planning touse Working With Preschoolers Who

Stutter as a resource (both video andhandouts) for my course in stuttering,”said Amit Bajaj, PhD, Assistant

Professor at EmersonCollege, Boston.

The nearly two-hourlong video covers suchtopics as the assessmentand treatment ofpreschoolers who stutter,

guidelines based on newresearch on when to provide

treatment, and a structured ap-proach to involve parents.Working With Preschoolers

Who Stutter: Successful Strategies forIntervention is available from the SFAon VHS or DVD, and includes a 27-page booklet that may be photocopied.Call or visit the online catalog.

New!

Librarian Says Thanks—Send More, Please!� “As an adult who had a severe stutter-ing problem as a child, I realize howlimiting it can be. I am forever gratefulto my first gradeteacher, Mrs.Belzer, who deter-mined that it wasnot that I did notknow the answerwhen she calledupon me, just that I was too embarrassedto try to speak; and it was not that I wasunable ro read, just that I was unable toread aloud, and arranged for me to havespeech therapy,” wrote Karen Worrall,director of the Torrington Library. Ms.Worrall listed a number of SFA publica-tions the library shelves, and asked forfree copies of more resources. Ms.Worrall, we’re happy to oblige.

NSSLHA Chapters Giveto Stuttering Foundation� Thanks to National Student Speech,Language and Hearing Associationchapters at St. Joseph’s College in NewYork and at the University of Cincinnatiin Ohio who sent gifts to the SFA. “Wewould like to contribute money that willmake a direct difference, such as themuch-needed videotape for school-agechildren,” wrote the chapter in NewYork in sending in their donation. Greattiming! Stuttering: For Kids, By Kids isjust out in VHS and DVD.

SurvivingAdversity� Two of the SFA’sheroes and spokes-men are subjects ina new book byGord Carley.Former ChicagoBulls great Bob

Love and actor NicholasBrendon talk about their struggles withstuttering and how they overcame theirgreatest challenges in SurvivingAdversity. The book includes 30 otherprofiles of individuals who have over-come different types of adversity. Thebook may be purchased through theSFA for $12.95. Carley has generouslyoffered to donate 50 percent of thesales price to the SFA!

International StutteringAwareness Day is Oct. 22� InternationalS t u t t e r i n gAwareness day willbe Oct. 22 this year,with the theme of“International Year of the Child WhoStutters.” Professionals and others inter-ested in stuttering are invited to partici-pate in an online conference Oct. 1-22 athttp://www.stutteringhomepage.com. Aspecial section will be available thisyear for children and teens who stutter.CEUs or college credit are available fora fee. See the web site for details.□

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News Shorts

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Work has begun on a DVD that willdemonstrate fluency shaping and stut-tering modification techniques withpeople of all ages who stutter.

“This videotape is going to includefootage of a variety of clinicians, allspecialists in the area of stuttering,who use these fluency shaping andstuttering modification strategies intheir clinical practice,” said PatriciaZebrowski, Ph.D., University of Iowa.“Demonstrations with actual peoplewho stutter across the life span issomething that has not been capturedon videotape. Our hopes are that anyclinician can use these skills and adaptthem to their own personal style.”

“This tape will address a need thathas been sought by many cliniciansover decades,” added Peter Ramig,Ph.D., University of Colorado, Boulder.

“We frequently hear from clinicianswho wish they could watch other clin-icians teach clients to use certain tech-niques. This video is going to fill thatneed,” said Lisa Scott Trautman,Ph.D., The Florida State University.

“The inspiration for this project wasthe videotape series by Dr. CharlesVan Riper and Dr. Harold Starbuckthat is still available from SFA,” ex-plained Carroll Guitar, M.L.S., projectchairperson. “Jane Fraser especiallywanted to produce a DVD that wouldshow therapy in action with masterclinicians. While Van Riper andStarbuck focused mainly on stutteringmodification, the current project willinclude fluency shaping and a combi-nation of those techniques. The clini-cians involved with this project are alltop-notch, devoted to stuttering thera-py and, combined, have decades of ex-perience with clients of all ages. It is aparticular pleasure to work withFrances Cook of the Michael PalinCentre in London, who brings a uniqueperspective from the UK.”

The video team: Barry Guitar, JaneFraser, Frances Cook, Peter Ramig,Carroll Guitar, and Lisa Scott Trautman.

Video to DemonstrateTherapy Techniques

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New DVD Offers Strategies for Treating Preschoolers

Artwork, left, by DavidSakiewicz, 10, whowrites, “I feel that myspeech is like a darkcloud looming and fol-lowing me, and when Iuse my speech utensilsI put on a raincoat andI feel in control!”Artwork, right, byTrevor Davis, 8, whowrites, “ Speech lookslike a river flowing andthen someone put arock in it so it can’tflow.” Submitted byCharito Shook, a bilin-gual SLP at LibbyElementary School inOceanside, Calif.

8 www.stutteringhelp.org 1-800-992-9392

I Can Do AnythingThis is it. Larissa gave her speech in

front of her classmates and won the con-test. Now it’s time to speak in front of alarger audiecne with parents, teachers andadmnistrators. She seems cool and calmas she approaches the microphone. I holdmy breath as she begins.

She uses her compensatory strategies:pacing, slower rate and slide-outs, withease and confidence. I think back to thegirl I met over two years ago, whothought she was the only person in theworld who stuttered. Among otherthings, she has learned about famous peo-ple who stutter. She especially liked KingGeorge, who “looked like he was goingto throw up” before his coronationspeech. She read about other children

Dear SFA: Reader Response

A Picture’s Worth...

SpeechEasy and ChildrenDear SFA:We’ve given the idea of using the

SpeechEasy with children a lot ofthought.

It would be unfortunate, we think, ifyoung children were fitted with the de-vice as they respond positively to a vari-ety of traditional treatments. As far as weknow, there is no research on the effectsof Speech Easy on young children.

Along with treating the stuttering inchildren, sometimes there are other treat-ment needs, such as language, articula-tion, etc. Only if an older child has hada history of unsuccessful treatment and ifthe child does not have avoidance behav-iors, might it be considered.

The child, also, should be able toachieve an easy onset. A child who clut-ters/stutters probably would not be agood candidate since those children havedifficulty being aware of their speechand the use of easy onset.

In other words, individual speech andlanguage assessments are as necessarywith the device as in any other treatmentplan. Caution is the key word.

Drs. Jeanna & Glyndon RileyRiley Speech and Language InstituteTustin, California

Mary Kozak is an SLP in Hagerstown, Ind.Larissa is her 6th grade student, who hasbeen inspired by stories about children whostutter. Now it’s her turn to inspire others,said Mary, in sending the story below.

Nick’s the Best!I just want to let you know that your

Foundation is remarkable. I cannot beginto tell you how many lives you havetouched and helped.

The way I became familiar with The

Stuttering Foundation was the first yearNicholas Brendon was chosen asspokesman. Personally, I do not stutter,and I can’t even imagine what a stutterergoes through.

As an avid Nick fan I have read a lotof articles where he speaks about his bat-tle with stuttering and on some occasionsI was personally able to hear him talkabout it. You couldn’t have picked a bet-ter spokesman. Nicholas speaks from hisheart and grabs your attention and touch-es your soul. He’s the perfect role model.The perfect inspiration.

Recently I purchased three postersfrom the Foundation, all of Nick, andplaced them in my high school, mynephew’s elementary school, and in thelocal library. The response has beenamazing! A freshman boy from myschool e-mailed me and explained howterrific he thought the StutteringFoundation was. He was also in awe ofthe fact that Nicholas has a stutter andtold me that “It’s just so wonderful to seehis face on that poster.”

The Stuttering Foundation has touchedthe hearts of so many people and I amvery proud to be a supporter.

Tara Ripke

Editor’s Note: Nicholas has workedwith the SFA since 2001. In that time,www.NickBrendon.com visitors havecontributed more than $5,000 to the char-ity. Helping the SFA is a significant out-come of Nick’s role on Buffy. You can stillcontribute to the SFA through Nick’sBirthday Project on his site.

FALL 2004 91-800-992-9392

who stutter and wrote letters to them. Butmost of all, we have laughed togetherwhile sharing feelings and ideas.

As she ends her speech, my teary eyesare filled with joy as the audience claps inappreciation. As we smile at each other,she and I both know the secret to suc-cess—confidence in who you are as aunique individual.

Mary Kozak

This is about my D.A.R.E. speech andhow I got through it. D.A.R.E. is a pro-gram at my school that teaches kids aboutdrugs. A good idea is to practice with anadult and pretend aliens are in the audi-ence. Aliens don’t make me feel nervous,like people do, during a speech. Mystomach does flips when I have to give aspeech. I use slide-outs and it is veryhelpful. A really good tip is to read yourspeech over and over again to an adult.Talk slowly and pause between your sen-tences. Don’t be afraid to try and giveyour speech in front of a lot of people. IfI can do it, then I know you can too!

Larissa Nakamura

Our StoriesDear SFA:Following are letters from my stu-

dents whom I treat for stuttering. As aspeech therapist, I often feel FRUS-TRATED and INADEQUATE in trying

to help my students with stuttering. Atspeech department meetings, it seems allof the other therapists share these samefeelings.

I appreciate your materials from TheStuttering Foundation. We’re readingthrough the Sometimes I Just Stutter booktogether and I am copying it and sendingit home for them to share with their fami-lies.

Joey is a 5th grader with good self-es-teem. His stuttering does not hold himback from participating in school. He is abright boy who knows his sports statistics.When he is retelling sports facts and whenhe gets up to perform before a crowd, hisspeech is more fluent than most. He alsocame in third place in our county’sspelling bee.

Blake is a “cool” and very intelligent5th grader. He is quite a leader and astraight “A” student. He’s great and en-joys math and drawing and we’ve dis-cussed being an engineer, architect,graphic illustrator, and so on. I remindhim that he’s a leader and others reallywatch him and copy what he’s doing.

Thank you for your time and for hav-ing a place where children can feel athome with their stuttering and communi-cate those feelings, while being totally un-derstood.

Christine Dietrich, MA, CCC-SLPRockingham, NC

Joey’s StoryDear Stuttering FoundationI have been working on my stuttering a

lot lately. Our speech therapist told us thaton special occasions you can’t stutter, butwhen that special occasion ends, it don’tcare if you stutter or not.

I am eleven years old now and I havebeen stuttering for 6-8 years and I want tostop stuttering. I have been working real-ly hard on it, and now I am doing a lotbetter on it.

I sure hope you get my letter and writeme back, because I really want to stopstuttering.

From Joey Thornton

Blake’s Story About HisStutteringI think that kids who stutter should not

feel sad about it. I have been going totherapy for 2 years, and she has [taught]me how to overcome stuttering.

I am ten years old and I have been stut-tering all my life and I don’t stutter a lotnow. Kids shouldn’t be upset about stut-tering. I feel special about it, and otherkids should too.

Blake Utley

Send your letters to SFA, P.O. Box11749, Memphis, TN 38111-0749 oremail info@stutteringhelp.org.

Language ProcessingContinued from page 1

ly these movements are produced acrossdifferent language tasks. The main find-ing from these studies is that when lan-guage demands are relatively low, thespeech movements of adults who stutterare similar in consistency to those of nor-mally fluent adults. However, when thelinguistic demands of an utterance be-come more complex, the additional pro-cessing demands affect the speech motorcontrol systems of adults who stutter to agreater extent than those who are nor-mally fluent. This is direct evidence ofhow task demands in other neural sys-tems, such those involved in languageprocessing, can disrupt the neural signalsfor the speech movements themselves.

A second approach we have taken tobetter understand how language process-ing demands may affect stuttering is toexamine brain responses to languagetasks when participants are not requiredto speak. To do this we recorded the elec-trical activity that is generated by groupsof brain cells (electroencephalography)with 32 electrodes that are embedded in

an elastic cap. Using this technique we canmeasure changes in brain activity on a mil-lisecond by millisecond basis. The partici-pants in these studies were asked to readwords that were flashed on a computermonitor one word at a time. We then aver-aged the brain activity that was elicited byspecific aspects of the language stimuli,such as whether the word is a content word(e.g., “cow”) or a function word (e.g.,“into”). This averaging of the brain wavesresults in a measure known as an event-re-lated brain potential (ERP). When we ex-amined the averaged brain waves of theadults who stutter, we found they were re-duced in amplitude compared to matchednormally fluent group of adults. We foundreduced amplitudes of averaged brain re-sponses in adults who stutter for functionand content words, for words read in an un-expected context (semantic anomalies, e.g.The boy hung his coat in the peanut), andviolations in verb agreement (e.g.,Everyday they travels this road). Our mostrecent study which will appear in theJournal of Speech, Language, and HearingResearch in December, 2004, examinedaveraged brain responses that were elicited

by words that rhymed or did not rhymewith a preceding word. This experimentallowed us to look at how phonologicalprocessing (without the grammatical orsemantic demands) may differ in adultswho stutter. For the most part, the aver-aged brain waves and behavioral re-sponses of the adults who stutter werevery similar to those of normally fluentspeakers. It was only in the most difficultrhyme decision, when the two wordslooked alike but did not rhyme (e.g.,gown, own) that the reactions times wereslowed in the adults who stutter. The av-eraged brain waves for the rhyme deci-sion was larger over the right hemi-sphere compared to the left in the adultswho stutter but equal in the normally flu-ent speakers. Taken together, these find-ings indicate that the neural systems forsome aspects of language processingmay operate differently in adults whostutter even when there are no overtspeaking demands. Overall, in both themovement tracking and brain responsestudies, we found that increased com-plexity, or greater demands on the lan-

Continued on page 12

10 www.stutteringhelp.org

STUTTERINGFOUNDATIONTM

1-800-992-9392

A Nonprofit OrganizationSince 1947 — Helping Those Who Stutter3100 Walnut Grove Road, Suite 603P.O. Box 11749 ● Memphis, TN 38111-0749

1-800-992-9392 ● 1-800-967-7700www.stutteringhelp.orginfo@stutteringhelp.org

Chapleau, Montreal, Quebec, Canada,H2K 3H6; 1-877-353-1042. Pleaseenclose $20.00 Canadian to cover print-ing, postage, and handling costs.

■ The Stuttering Foundation two-day conference for speech-lan-guage pathologists working withschool-age children who stutter,Practical Ideas for the SchoolClinician, will be held in June,2005. For dates, place, and anapplication form, call the StutteringFoundation at 1-800-992-9392 orcheck www.stutteringhelp.org. ■ The Stuttering FoundationEastern Workshop, Diagnosis andTreatment of Children Who Stutter:Practical Strategies, directed bySusan Dietrich, Ph.D., SherylGottwald, Ph.D., Edward G.Conture, Ph.D. in collaborationwith Diane Parris, M.A., will beheld at Boston University. Call for

dates, place, and an application form, callthe Stuttering Foundation at 1-800-992-9392 or check www.stutteringhelp.org. ■ The Stuttering Foundation Workshop,Diagnosis and Treatment of Children WhoStutter: Practical Strategies, directed byAlex Johnson, Ph.D. and PatriceCarothers, M.A. For dates, place, and anapplication form, call the StutteringFoundation at 1-800-992-9392 or checkwww.stutteringhelp.org. ■ The Stuttering Foundation two-weekWorkshop for Specialists will be held atthe University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, inJune 20-July 2, 2005, directed by PatriciaZebrowski, Ph.D. and Toni Cilek, M.A.For more information, contact theStuttering Foundation at 1-800-992-9392,or write Dr. Zebrowski, c/o SFA, 3100Walnut Grove Road, Suite 603, Memphis,TN 38111-0749. This unique workshopbrings together speech-language patholo-gists from all over the world.■ For those wanting to purchase a posterentitled The Bill of Rights andResponsibilities of PWS, contact MichaelSugarman at MSugarman1@aol.com. Itrepresents the combined effort of the IFAand ISA.■ Cours d'immersion a la fluidite offrirades l'automne 2004, une fin de semaine in-tensive sur la fluidite. Pour renseigne-ments, faire venir un courriel a abcbe-gaiement@sympatico.ca.■ LISTSERV for doctoral students specializ-ing in stuttering. The intent of this list is toserve as an open forum for doctoral students.Membership is limited to doctoral studentsonly. To subscribe, send the following messageto listserv@listserv.temple.edu: subscribe stut-terdoc firstname lastname or contact JoeDonaher at turtlecraw@aol.com.■ For those interested in joining ToastmastersInternational as a way to improve fluency,communication or public speaking skills, theiraddress is: Toastmasters International, Inc.,Attention: Membership Department, P.O. Box9052, Mission Viejo, CA 92690, Telephone:(714) 858-8255; Fax: (714) 858-1207.■ For those wanting to obtain a copy ofSelf-Therapy for the Stutterer in Japanese,write to Dr. Shokichi Nakajima, 2-21-1Ogawa Machida-shi, Tokyo 194, Japan,telephone/fax: 0427 (96) 5092.■ Self-Therapy for the Stutterer is avail-able in French. Write to the Associationdes Begues du Canada, 2596 A rue

NE

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For Combined Federal Campaign donors,please note that our code number for the

2004-2005 CFC campaign is

CFC #2539.We are proud that over 95 cents of every dollar goes directly into

helping those who stutter.

The Stuttering Foundation of America isa tax-exempt organization under section501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Codeand is classified as a private operatingfoundation as defined in section4942(j)(3). Charitable contributions andbequests to the Foundation are tax-

deductible, subject to limitations under the Code.

guage processing system, enhanceddifferences between adults who stutterand normally fluent adults.

The studies described above havefocused on language and motor inter-actions in adults who stutter. This bodyof work lays the groundwork for thenext phase of our research which is tolook at similar types of interactions inyoung children who stutter. Our re-search group (Anne Smith andChristine Weber-Fox from theDepartment of Audiology and SpeechSciences and Howard Zelaznik fromthe Department of Health andKinesiology at Purdue University) verymuch appreciate the support from theNational Institute of Deafness andOther Communication Disorders of theNational Institutes of Health(Physiological Correlates of Stuttering,R01 00559).

input from parents, the child’s teacher,and from the special education teammember(s) who will work with thechild. For stuttering, this is typicallyan SLP.

The IEP includes: a statementabout the child’s present level of per-formance, annual speech therapygoals, services to be provided andwho will provide them, the amount oftime services will be provided eachweek, and how progress will be mea-sured.

The IEP is a one-year plan devel-oped with the parents’ input. Parentsmust also consent for the child to beplaced in speech therapy. At leastonce a year, a meeting will be sched-uled to review the child’s progress.The IEP is a flexible document thatcan be modified if the child’s needschange before a year has passed.

Parents have the right to have theteam’s recommendations reviewed byan outside person or have the child in-dependently evaluated. They mayalso take an advocate with them toany meeting. For example, if parentsare paying for private speech therapy,they may take the therapist to schoolmeetings to help plan the child’s pub-lic school therapy.

Children in Private SchoolsLocal public school districts are re-

quired to identify, evaluate, and pro-vide services to children in privateschools just as they must for childrenattending public schools. The maindifference for students in privateschools is in how services are deliv-ered and the replacement of the IEPwith a “Service Plan.” Instead of anSLP coming to the child’s ownschool, the child may have to go to theclosest elementary school for therapy.The Service Plan establishes annualgoals for the child and specifies theservices to be provided. Personnelfrom the child’s school are invited tohelp determine eligibility and developthe Service Plan.

If My Child is IneligibleSometimes a child who is stutteringmay not be eligible for free speech

therapy through the public schools.Instead, parents may have to find aspeech-language pathologist in a clin-ic or private practice to see the child,and pay for therapy themselves orhave it billed through their health in-surance. The Stuttering Foundationcan provide a list of SLPs who spe-cialize in stuttering therapy.

Special Education Law andStuttering TherapyContinued from page 6

Language ProcessingContinued from page 9

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