UM organizes stuttering workshop

ORONO – The University of Maine Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders invites parents, children, teens and speech-language pathologists to a workshop Saturday, Feb. 12, on stuttering and strategies for overcoming stuttering.

Discussions scheduled throughout the day at the Memorial Union will explore new therapy strategies and the most recent scientific explanations for what causes stuttering.

The workshop, running 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., is jointly sponsored by UM and its Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, the National Stuttering Association and the UMaine Chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association.

“Our goal is to provide education and support to parents, speech-language pathologists and people who stutter, and also to create an environment where children and teens who stutter can meet other people who stutter,” said Nancy Hall, an associate professor and chairman of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. “Children who stutter often feel like they are alone with their disorder.”

Hall, who holds American Speech-Language Hearing Association recognition to treat people who stutter and teaches a graduate course at UMaine in fluency disorders, is one of three workshop leaders.

Others are Judy Butler of Franklin, Mass., and Marybeth Allen. Butler, like Hall, also holds ASHA recognition in fluency disorders, and works with children and adolescents in private practice.

Allen, a clinical educator at the UMaine Stuttering Clinic, also holds ASHA recognition in fluency disorders and leads the Eastern Maine Chapter of the National Stuttering Association and Fluency Discussion Group in Maine. Allen is a person who stutters and maintains a private practice treating people who stutter.

According to the National Stuttering Association, the largest self-help organization for people who stutter, one-fourth of children who stutter do not outgrow it and the disorder often is misunderstood by teachers, counselors and even pediatricians.

Some parents have been advised to defer speech therapy until it’s too late to overcome stuttering, Hall said.

Speech language pathologists often can identify children at risk for chronic stuttering at an early age and, with appropriate intervention, the children can go on to become fluent communicators, Hall said. Some notable people who overcame stuttering include actor James Earl Jones, newscaster John Stossel and nurse Clara Barton.

Supporting a child’s self-esteem and confidence is a major component of therapeutic intervention, according to Hall. The Feb. 12 workshop will address that, in addition to the importance of parents’ and speech therapists’ roles in therapy programs.

Parents and speech pathologists will have an opportunity to share information and hear speakers discuss diagnosis and intervention for stuttering, in addition to learning about resources and other issues surrounding raising a child who stutters.

Children, Hall said, will be grouped by age and can learn from one another about successful therapies and participate in self-affirming activities.

“This is really a wonderful opportunity for a broad spectrum of people with wide-ranging skills, education and experiences to come together and share their expertise,” Hall said.

The cost of the workshop is $10 for families and $20 for speech-language pathologists. More information is available from Marybeth Allen at 581-2403, Nancy Hall at 581-2404, or www.umaine.edu/comscidis.