23 May 2015
2015 World Congress on Stuttering, Cluttering and other Fluency Disorders (Ep. 515)
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Elaine Kelman and Scott Palasik join Peter Reitzes to discuss The International Fluency Association’s 2015 World Congress on cluttering, stuttering and other fluency disorders which will be held in Lisbon, Portugal from July 6th-8th 2015. This event is a collaboration between the International Fluency Association (IFA) and the International Cluttering Association (ICA). Self-help organizations and individuals with fluency disorders will also be actively involved, during both the planning phase and the event itself. All three speakers on today’s episode expressed how impressive the list of presentations, events, keynotes and poster sessions are for this World Congress and how challenging it is to choose only a few to discuss on air. The following presentations were discussed on air and constitute only a small sampling of the scheduled World Congress events:
- Smits-Bandstra, Sarah: Self-help groups enhance student learning in fluency disorders courses
- Franken, Marie-Christine & Holtmaat, Carike: Recovery of Childhood Stuttering in the Clinical population: Preliminary Study
- Weidig, Tom: Ten obstacles to measure outcome of early childhood intervention
- Langevin, Marilyn; Swift, Michelle; Lomheim, Holly: Mindfulness following the Comprehensive Stuttering Program
- Cheasman, Carolyn & Everard, Rachel: Acceptance and commitment therapy: therapist and client perspectives
- Simpson, Sam & Everard, Rachel: Stammering and the Social Model of Disability: Implications for Therapy
- Brundage, Shelley, B.; Bernstein Ratner, Nan; Wu, Catherine; Hoff, Erika: Does bilingualism elevate stuttering risk: Methodological concerns and research result

On today’s episode it was announced that Dr. Tom Weidig, the brain behind the Stuttering Brain blog, will be hosting for StutterTalk at the IFA’s 2015 World Congress.
Elaine Kelman, MSc, Cert CT, Cert MRCSLT is Clinical Manager at The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children in London, President of the International Fluency Association, a Certified member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, an International affiliate of ASHA, and a Member of the Health and Care Professions Council. Ms. Kelman, with Alison Nicholas, authored the textbook Practical Intervention for Early Childhood Stammering: Palin PCI Approach.

Scott Palasik, Ph.D, CCC-SLP, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology at the University of Akron. Dr. Palasik developed a stuttering therapy approach called the Mindfulness Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Somatic Stuttering Treatment.









1 Jun 2015
Passing As Fluent: A Power Move to Access Able-Bodied Privilege? (Ep. 517)
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Christopher Constantino joins Peter Reitzes to discuss disability rights and disability studies and how they may intersect with speech-language pathology and self help for people who stutter. During the second half of today’s episode, Mr. Constantino is asked about his research on passing as fluent (known to some as covert stuttering). Chris suggests that passing as fluent may be less an oppression of authenticity and more a power move to access able-bodied privilege. Mr. Constantino describes this analysis as “returning agency to the person.” Chris suggests that passing as fluent may be more of a “resistance” to dominant discourses than a repression of an authentic self.
Christopher Constantino is a person who stutters and a PhD student in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Memphis. Chris is doing his clinical fellowship in the Shelby County Schools in Memphis and is conducting a research study to understand and contextualize the experiences of passing as fluent for people who covertly stutter. Chris will be hosting some StutterTalk episodes this summer from the International Fluency Association’s World Congress in Portugal, July 6-8.