24 Jul 2015
Be custom. Be different. Be unique. Be you. (Ep. 547)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS
Nick Weaver, COO and co-founder of Blue Delta Jeans, talks about succeeding in business, using humor in communication, stuttering being just one part of who he is, how stuttering can be an advantage in business, what he learned from his parents and so much more.
Nick Weaver was recently featured in the article, Finding the Perfect Fit, published by the Stuttering Foundation and in a Stuttering Foundation video from their 2015 New York City gala. Mr. Weaver was the keynote speaker at the 2015 FRIENDS Convention. Nick is a role model, an entrepreneur, an app developer, a husband, a father, a person who stutters and much more.
“[Stuttering] has turned into my conversation piece…When you are going to a business meeting it is something to talk about other than business. My stuttering has become my business tool. That’s how I break the ice…It lets people let down their own guard a little bit. That’s why I’m good at moving people. That’s why I can negotiate contracts. Stuttering is my blessing.” –Nick Weaver
The video below features Mr. Weaver discussing Blue Delta Jeans while stuttering openly.
31 Jul 2015
Demands and Capacities and Lidcombe: Roughly Equal Preschool Stuttering Treatments at 18 Months Post Treatment Onset (Ep. 548)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS
Dr. Marie-Christine Franken and Caroline de Sonneville-Koedoot discuss their eagerly awaited, just published, rigorous scientific study Direct versus Indirect Treatment for Preschool Children who Stutter: The RESTART Randomized Trial. A major finding reported in the study and on StutterTalk today is that treatment results for Lidcombe and RESTART-DCM treatment methods are very similar at 18 months post treatment onset. In response to a question formulated from this Stuttering Brain blog post, Dr. Franken shares on StutterTalk today that “At this moment I think it would be unscientific to claim that the Lidcombe Program is the best stuttering treatment.”
Franken, de Sonneville-Koedoot and their colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial with an 18 month follow-up with 199 children who stutter between the ages of 3-6. All subjects had been stuttering for at least 6 months. 99 children received the Lidcombe Program treatment, a direct treatment. 100 children received the RESTART-DCM treatment, an indirect treatment. The researchers concluded that “results imply that at 18 months post treatment onset, both treatments are roughly equal in treating developmental stuttering in ways that surpass expectations of natural recovery.”
[Update – a few days after this interview, Dr. Tom Weidig at the Stuttering Brain blog published this excellent post The most important conclusions from the Franken study on early-childhood intervention.]
Dr. Marie-Christine Franken is a Specialist Fluency Therapist and the Speech-Language Research Lead at the Speech & Hearing Department of Erasmus University MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Dr. Franken and her team of researchers published a much discussed 2005 pilot study which compared Lidcombe Treatment and DCM Treatment. Dr. Franken recently appeared on StutterTalk to answer listener questions about Preschool Stuttering and Its Treatment (Ep. 487).
Caroline de Sonneville-Koedoot is a PhD student at Erasmus University, in the Department of Health Policy and Management, the Netherlands, and a speech-language pathologist. Her current research focuses on the cost-effectiveness of therapy for children who stutter.
Links related to today’s episode: