In-depth Focus in Philly

In July, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), The Florida State University, and the Stuttering Foundation co-sponsored the third Mid-Atlantic Workshop in Philadelphia. alt text

Speech-language pathologists from nine states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Brazil, and France met July 12-16 on the CHOP campus to learn how to assess and treat school-age children and adolescents who stutter.

Workshop leaders included Joe Donaher, Ph.D. of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Vivian Sisskin, M.A. of University of Maryland, and Lisa Scott, Ph.D., of The Florida State University.

Attendees had the privilege of hearing a lecture on pediatric anxiety disorders presented by Dr. Martin Franklin, University of Pennsylvania, one of the world’s leading experts on treatments for pediatric anxiety.

Dr. Franklin detailed how cognitive-behavioral therapy is used to address anxiety in children and then drew parallels to treatments for childhood stuttering.

Throughout the workshop, a variety of learning opportunities were used including traditional lectures, guided case planning, small-group practice of the various clinical and relationship skills, and watching videos of therapy sessions.

“We were so thrilled to have so many clinicians from a variety of work settings devote a week of their summer to learning more about stuttering,” said Lisa Scott. Vivian Sisskin agreed and added, “The dynamics of the group were wonderful.” “The dedication of these SLPs to helping kids is inspirational. Many children will benefit from the talents and interest they have,” explained Joe Donaher, who was especially enthused about hosting the workshop.

Feedback from participants included:

“After this course, I feel much more confident with making assessments, focusing on the children's difficulties and attitudes towards their stuttering, and developing a treatment plan with my clients. I hope to share the information with my co-workers and look forward to continuing to help monolingual and bilingual children who stutter.”

“This was an amazing experience for me. I am very grateful to have been a participant. Overall, a top-notch experience!!”

CELEBRITY FOCUS

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Seeking to "remove Winston Churchill's stutter by second guessing the diagnosis" indicates neither a truthful retelling of history nor an informed opinion about a complex speech disorder, say experts in the field of speech-language pathology.

Recent news reports that quote Dr. John Mather, a Washington physician, as saying that Churchill's stutter "is a lie" brought adamant critical response from specialists in the field of stuttering and fluency disorders.

Carly Simon

Carly Simon began stuttering severely when she was eight years old.

Marilyn Monroe

From Edward S. Herrington's letter to Southcoasttoday.com

I am writing in response to "The importance of voice" (May 29), which mentioned that famous actor James Earl Jones struggled with stuttering. Another famous voice that you cited was the trademark breathy voice of Marilyn Monroe; however, you did not make mention of the fact that Marilyn Monroe also struggled with stuttering at various points in her life, sometimes very painfully.

Emily Blunt

Actress Emily Blunt struggled with stuttering early in her life. A teacher encouraged her to act in a school play at age 12 despite her stuttering.

Blunt’s name is prominently featured on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter.

Dave Taylor

Dave Taylor has been on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter for many years, but probably few people know all of the unique accomplishments of this former hockey great who was born on December 4, 1955, in Levack, Ontario.