Virtual Learning

Virtual Learning by The Stuttering Foundation is an online series of free, interactive workshops with a variety of offerings for speech-language pathologists, parents, and individuals who stutter.

The series includes monthly offerings ranging from clinical training opportunities, to parent education, to a platform for people who stutter of all ages to share their stories. Sessions are moderated by many of the world’s leading clinicians, researchers, and self-help advocates — bringing learning and collaboration to you.

Assessing Preschoolers for Stuttering

Speaker: Ellen M. Kelly, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-F, The Stuttering Foundation

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023

Time: 12:00-1:30pm ET

Click Here to Register

Description: The complexity of stuttering development necessitates a multifaceted approach to assessment of preschoolers. Rationale for and specific elements of screening and comprehensive assessment protocols for use with preschoolers suspected of stuttering, and their caregivers, will be provided. Case examples will be used to illustrate prioritization of assessment measures and formulation of recommendations to caregivers.

Learning Outcomes:

You will be able to:

Provide rationale for multifaceted assessment of preschoolers suspected of stuttering.
Identify elements of screening for stuttering and other challenges in preschoolers.
Outline a comprehensive assessment of speech, language, and communication in preschoolers who are stuttering.
Describe application of screening or assessment results to recommendations to caregivers of preschoolers who are stuttering.

Details:

Target Audience: Speech-Language Pathologists*, Students
There is no fee for this event
*This course is not eligible for CEUs

Bio: Ellen M. Kelly, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-F, is Vice President for Professional Development at the Stuttering Foundation where she contributes to the creation and dissemination of resources and provides consultation to those who stutter and their families. For more than 35 years, she has integrated her education in speech-language pathology and psychology to provide specialized clinical practice, education, and research in stuttering within university, medical center, and private practice settings. Reach out to Ellen anytime at: AskStutteringFoundation@stutteringhelp.org

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Winston Churchill

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.

Bill Withers

While Bill Withers has long been on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter, many people probably didn’t realize he stuttered. He passed away on March 30, 2020.

Born in 1938 in Slab Fork, W.V., Withers was the youngest of six children. When his father died when Withers was small, he was raised by his mother and grandmother, both of whom worked as domestics.

Bruce Willis

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.

Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany to his German mother, Marlene, and his American GI father, David Willis. The family settled in David’s hometown of Penns Grove, New Jersey in 1957, and the couple has three other children.

John Melendez

He is a talented musician, actor, and comedian. Listen to a podcast.

Bill Walton

From BillWalton.com

Thank you for your interest in my life long problem with my speech and communication skills. I was a very shy and reserved young man who could not speak at all without severely stuttering until I was 28 years old. Always a success in the classroom and on the basketball court, I took refuge in the things that I did well as a youngster. A straight A student, my athletic abilities covered the deficiencies that limited my overall growth and development. The game of basketball was my religion, the gym my church. It was a convenient way of avoiding my responsibilities of developing my human relation skills.

When I was 28, a chance encounter at a social event with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman completely changed my life in so many ways that things have never been the same since, nor have they ever been better. That day, in a very brief, private conversation (one way, mind you, since I literally could not speak at the time) Marty explained, patiently and concisely, that talking, communicating was a skill not a gift or a birthright and that like any skill, whether it be sports, music, business or whatever, needed to be developed over a lifetime of hard work, discipline, organization and practice. Marty gave me some simple tips that day and then encouraged me to take those keys and apply them to methods of learning that I had received from the special teachers that I had come across in my life, particularly the 6 Hall of Fame basketball coaches that I had played for throughout my career. The beginning of my whole new life was as simple as that. No gimmicks, tricks or shortcuts. Just the realization that with some help, guidance and a lot of hard work that I too could do what seemed so easy, simple and natural to everyone else, yet seemed impossibly out of my reach and comprehension.