MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 8, 2012) — The Stuttering Foundation responds to a new study published in the August 8th online issue of Neurology, “Neural anomaly and reorganization in speakers who stutter:”

“It is our experience that a competent therapist can help a person who stutters become fluent in one week. That is not the challenge; the goal in stuttering therapy is staying fluent - taking what you learn in the therapy setting and transferring it into the real world and maintaining that level of fluency over time,” said Jane Fraser, president of the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation.

“Whenever we can show that physical changes we make through therapy actually affect the brain in a positive way, it is very reinforcing. Change doesn’t just happen in a vacuum. However, we must again ask ourselves this important question ... do these changes in the brain hold up over time?

“Without a doubt, this study opens the door to new research into long term changes in the brain that would reinforce fluency. For that, we are very encouraged.”