Ellen M. Kelly, Craig Coleman and Sheena Reilly join Peter Reitzes to discuss a current study on preschool stuttering out of Australia by Reilly and colleagues which has gathered a lot of media attention and has triggered some significant concerns in the field of speech-langauge pathology. The study, in the journal Pediatrics, is titled Natural History of Stuttering to 4 Years of Age: A Prospective Community-Based Study. The controversy or concerns have arisen, in part, because the study promotes a general policy of wait and see with preschoolers who stutter before beginning treatment. Some, including two of today’s guests, express concerns about the specific measures used in the study and the possible “over-interpretation” of the study’s findings. Guests are asked about the study itself, the response from the mainstream media and several critical press releases by the Stuttering Foundation.
ELLEN M. KELLY, PhD, CCC-SLP specializes in fluency disorders, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and a Speech-Language Pathologist at the Bill Wilkerson Center also at Vanderbilt.
CRAIG COLEMAN, MA, CCC-SLP, BRS-FD is an assistant professor at Marshall University and a Board-Recognized Specialist in fluency Disorders. Craig is currently serving his second term as President of the Pennsylvania Speech-Language-Hearing Association and also serves on the Scientific and Professional Education Board of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Craig is an adjunct instructor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Duquesne University.
SHEENA REILLY is Director of Speech Pathology, RCH and Professor of Speech Pathology, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne. Dr. Reilly holds a National Health and Medical Research (NHMRC) practitioner fellowship and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. Sheena is a Fellow of the UK Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and of Speech Pathology Australia.
JANE FRASER is president of The Stuttering Foundation, has run the Foundation for more than 30 years and is co-author of If Your Child Stutters: A Guide for Parents now in its 8th edition. Ms. Fraser’s StutterTalk interviews are archived here.
ROISIN MCMANUS and JOEL KORTE (of the StutterTalk B Team) interview MICHAEL TURNER about the documentary he is producing titled The Way We Talk. Some of the topics covered in the interview are the purpose of the documentary, Michael’s artistic vision and growing up with a brother who stutters.
Michael is currently raising funds for the project via his kickstarter page. Michael can be contacted at thewaywetalkmovie@gmail.com
Jamie Mahurin Smith, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, joins Peter Reizes to discuss her recently published study with Nicoline G. Ambrose in the Journal of Communication Disorders titled “Breastfeeding may protect against persistent stuttering.” In their study, the researcher’s found that “increased breastfeeding duration reduces the odds that a child’s stuttering will persist.”
JAMIE MAHURIN SMITH, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a researcher, speech-language pathologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Illinois State University.
Corey Caporale joins Peter Reitzes to discuss Bike/Hike 670 which is raising both stuttering awareness and funds for Camp Our Time scholarships. Corey has embarked upon a 670 mile biking and hiking adventure from Chicago, Illinois, to Camp Our Time, in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
COREY CAPORALE serves on Our Time Theatre’s Board of Directors, created Bike/Hike 670 which is a fundraising initiative for Camp Our Time scholarships, and works and lives in Chicago with his wife and two kids. Corey is a person who stutters and over time has learned to embrace his speech rather than fight it.
During this episode, Peter mentions Stutter Across America which was “a mobile stuttering awareness tour and mobile support group” that facilitated 8 workshops in 2002 across the United States. Peter was one of the co-faciltators.
Barry Yeoman joins Peter Reitzes to discuss the questions is StutterTalk making a difference and is StutterTalk biased?
Background:
In May of 2013, StutterTalk published two episodes (Ep. 398 and Ep. 399) in which Mr. Reitzes interviewed five people who received treatment at the Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI). Mr. Reitzes also interviewed Dr. Ronald Webster, Founder and President of HCRI. Mr. Reitzes asked Dr. Webster about the data and marketing statement on HCRI’s website which stated that “98% recommend HCRI to others who stutter.” Mr. Reitzes pointed out that as far as back as 1997, HCRI reported on their website that “98% said they would recommend it [Hollins treatment] to other stutterers.” Mr. Reitzes also pointed out that in 1997 HCRI reported having served more than 3,900 people who stutter. It was noted that by 2013 HCRI reported having served more than 6,100 people. Mr. Reitzes stated that it is uncanny that for 16 consecutive years, with the addition of thousands of new clients, the 98% recommendation rate had not fluctuated.
Update (Today’s Episode):
During today’s episode (Ep. 414), it is reported that sometime after publishing StutterTalk episodes 398 and 399, HCRI changed their website by removing the marketing statement on the main page which proclaimed that “98% recommend HCRI to others who stutter.” This is what the main page of the HCRI website looked like in May 2013 and this is what the HCRI website looked like in June 2013. Peter and Barry discuss the significance of HCRI’s recent change to their website and go on to discuss bias in reporting.
Bios:
BARRY YEOMAN is a respected journalist, a person who stutters, an advisor to StutterTalk and a long-time participant in self-help organizations for people who stutter. Barry’s in-depth reporting has appeared in numerous publication including the New York Times and O (The Oprah Magazine). Barry recently hosted five StutterTalk episodes from the 10th World Congress for People Who Stutter in the Netherlands.
PETER REITZES, MA CCC-SLP is President and Host of StutterTalk, a speech-language pathologist and a stutterer.
StutterTalk® is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to talking openly about stuttering. StutterTalk is the first and longest running podcast on stuttering. Since 2007 we have published more than 700 podcasts which are heard in 180 countries.
2 Sep 2013
Preschool Stuttering Treatment: Do You Wait and See When It’s Your Child? (Ep. 419)
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Ellen M. Kelly, Craig Coleman and Sheena Reilly join Peter Reitzes to discuss a current study on preschool stuttering out of Australia by Reilly and colleagues which has gathered a lot of media attention and has triggered some significant concerns in the field of speech-langauge pathology. The study, in the journal Pediatrics, is titled Natural History of Stuttering to 4 Years of Age: A Prospective Community-Based Study. The controversy or concerns have arisen, in part, because the study promotes a general policy of wait and see with preschoolers who stutter before beginning treatment. Some, including two of today’s guests, express concerns about the specific measures used in the study and the possible “over-interpretation” of the study’s findings. Guests are asked about the study itself, the response from the mainstream media and several critical press releases by the Stuttering Foundation.
Guests are asked about two Stuttering Foundation press releases linked below:
and the media’s response including these stories and headlines:
ELLEN M. KELLY, PhD, CCC-SLP specializes in fluency disorders, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and a Speech-Language Pathologist at the Bill Wilkerson Center also at Vanderbilt.
CRAIG COLEMAN, MA, CCC-SLP, BRS-FD is an assistant professor at Marshall University and a Board-Recognized Specialist in fluency Disorders. Craig is currently serving his second term as President of the Pennsylvania Speech-Language-Hearing Association and also serves on the Scientific and Professional Education Board of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Craig is an adjunct instructor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Duquesne University.
SHEENA REILLY is Director of Speech Pathology, RCH and Professor of Speech Pathology, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne. Dr. Reilly holds a National Health and Medical Research (NHMRC) practitioner fellowship and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. Sheena is a Fellow of the UK Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and of Speech Pathology Australia.