Camp Shout Out Sizzles

By Julie Raynor

In August 2011, 60 speech-language pathologists, graduate students and young people who stutter (ages 8-16) attended the inaugural session of Camp Shout Out held at Pioneer Trails Camp on Big Blue Lake near Muskegon, Michigan. Camp Shout Out is an intensive speech therapy and recreation program for young people who stutter and a hands-on CEU training opportunity for speech-language pathologists and graduate students.

Participants came to Michigan from nine different states and Guatemala. Training and treatment coordinator and director Kristin A. Chmela, assisted by June H. Campbell, directed and guided the learning process. Throughout the week, campers participated in individual, small and large group speech therapy sessions that focused on personal communication goals. Speech therapists and graduate students planned and led the therapy activities and also participated in daily ‘problem solving’ trainings with Kristin and June.

All participants stayed overnight in cabins on the camp property and ate meals together in the dining hall, which encouraged spontaneous interactions.

During the week it was difficult to tell who was having more fun, the campers or the adults, in recreational activities such as the zip line, Capture the Flag, King of the Water Mat, or Therapist Hunt. New friendships were formed and everybody learned about the power of communication. It was not unusual to find a group of campers sitting together working on a project during the day or a gathering of speech-language pathologists and grad students on the dock each night having quiet conversations and watching the dark sky full of stars.

One speech-language pathologist stated, “My eyes were opened to the world of stuttering. This week has given me insights on how to conduct therapy sessions with techniques and emotional support for children who stutter.”

For the 2012 session we are excited to add a Leader-In-Training program for older teen campers (ages 16-18) as well as the addition of Kevin Eldridge to the program faculty team. We can’t wait!

Visit campshoutout.org or Stutteringhelp.org.

Editor’s Note: A 2009 SFA Iowa Workshop attendee, Julie Raynor is truly a force of nature. She has done a superb job organizing and promoting this camp. The fantastic publicity she generated attracted children from across the Midwest and even a youngster from Guatemala.

-From the Winter 2012 Newsletter

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Ken Venturi

As much of the nation watches the U.S. Open Golf Championship, it is impossible not to think about our late friend Ken Venturi. Ken overcame many challenges to win the Open at Congressional in 1964 and go on to become the voice of golf for more than three decades.

However, Ken faced no bigger obstacle than stuttering. Ken Venturi was a champion to those who stutter, going out of his way to share his personal experience when consulted by a colleague, friend, or child who stutters.

Jack Paar

While Jack Paar is among the most prominent of the entertainers on the Stuttering Foundation’s list of Famous People Who Stutter, he deserves special recognition as he was among the first to openly address his stuttering in public. As host of The Tonight Show from 1957-1962, he spoke of his difficulties as a stuttering child and teenager, giving hope to young people.

Kenyon Martin

Kenyon Martin, the basketball sensation who was named to the NBA’s All Star Team in 2004, joins other famous people who stutter in a new brochure. The brochure - which unfolds into a small poster - is available free of charge from The Stuttering Foundation.

The poster is intended to give children and adults who stutter inspiration as they grapple with their speech disorder.

Emily Blunt

Actress Emily Blunt struggled with stuttering early in her life. A teacher encouraged her to act in a school play at age 12 despite her stuttering.

Blunt’s name is prominently featured on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter.

Bob Love

Bob Love has dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.