Fall 2009newsletter

Rio de Janeiro was the site of this year’sInternational Fluency Association World

Congress. Speech therapistsfrom 29 countries were rep-resented, including Estonia,Turkey, Iran, Sweden,Argentina and Brazil.

There was great interest in StutteringFoundation materials; and on the last day,Dr. Jennifer Watson relates, “I gave out

Rio Resonates!

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www.stutteringhelp.org • 800-992-9392 • www.tartamudez.org

THE STUTTERING FOUNDATIONA Nonprofit Organization Since 1947...Helping Those Who StutterFALL 2009

By Hayley S. Arnold, Ph.D.Purdue University

As a postdoctoral researcher inthe area of stuttering at PurdueUniversity, I am studying howlanguage, motor, and emotion fac-

tors may influ-ence stuttering inyoung children.

One way I’veexplored thesefactors is withe l e c t r o e n -cephalography(i.e., EEG, electri-cal signals fromthe brain) in

preschool-aged children who stutterand their peers who don’t stutter.During my previous doctoral

work with Edward Conture atVanderbilt University, I measuredemotions using EEG and the be-haviors produced by nine childrenwho stutter and nine children whodon’t stutter. The EEG measuresof emotion did not distinguishchildren who stutter from thosewho don’t stutter. However whenI analyzed behaviors, the childrenwho stutter, compared to theirpeers who did not stutter, wereless adept at emotion regulation.The study had children listen to

several conversations in whichadults were happy, angry, andneutral in their emotions.I found that the children who did

not stutter responded with signifi-cantlymore frequent self soothing,problem solving, and other regula-tory behaviors immediately after

Hayley S. Arnold, Ph.D.

Childhood Stuttering

Continued on page 4

A new look at howlanguage, motor, andemotion factors may

influence earlychildhood stuttering

An introduction tocognitive therapy

By Jane Fry,MSc (Psych Couns)., Dip CT (Oxon)Michael Palin Centre

Cognitive therapy, or cognitive-be-haviour thera-py (CBT), is in-creasingly re-ferred to inwork with peo-ple who stutter.Jane Fry fromthe MichaelPalin Centre,London, UK,discusses someof its’key theo-retical and clin-ical principles.

What is Cognitive Therapy?Cognitive Therapy is a form of psy-

chotherapy which was originally de-veloped by Aaron Beck in the 1960’sto understand and treat depression.Beck proposed that as human beings,we are constantly engaged in a processof filtering and interpreting informa-tion in order to make sense of theworld and our experiences. While thisis helpful because it makes the worldmore predictable, he argued that we all

sometimes make errors, jump to con-clusions or generally get things wrong.While it is human nature to make mis-takes, Beck proposed that some peopledevelop systematic, unhelpful biases in

the way theyinterpret infor-mation, andpatterns ofnegative oru n h e l p f u lt h i n k i n gwhich help toexplain theirvulnerabilityto emotionalproblems.

Cognitivetheory thusemphasises the

role of cognitions (thoughts, assump-tions and core beliefs) in explainingthe way people feel. For example,when people feel anxious it is becausethey are predicting that an imminentsituation will be threatening in someway. Furthermore, the level of anxietywill be higher the more a person viewsthe feared event as being likely to hap-pen, the more that is at stake should it

RRio o etane ss !

Willie Bottherill and JenniferWatson with an SLP fromEstonia at the StutteringFoundation booth.

Jane Fry works with children.

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fall_newsletter_2009:newsletter 8/28/09 9:34 AM

800-992-93922 www.stutteringhelp.orgSTUTTERINGFOUNDATION

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happen, and the less the person viewsthemselves as being able to cope.Beck also proposed that thoughts,

feelings, physiological and behaviouralresponses are linked. For example, whenwe get anxious a ‘wired-in’ responsetriggers physical feelings, such as ‘but-terflies’ or an increased heart rate, andalso a natural and instinctive be-havioural response to something protec-tive, such as avoiding the source ofthreat. Furthermore, in difficult situa-tions people tend to respond in wayswhich inadvertently exacerbate or rein-force problems, creating a ‘vicious cir-cle’. Continuing with the example ofanxiety, avoiding a feared situationmight get an individual ‘off the hook’but ultimately it stops them from findingout that things might have actually beenOK, or not as bad as they feared, or in-deed that they might have coped. Theperson loses the opportunity to buildconfidence and their fears associatedwith that situation are reinforced.Howmight this relate to stuttering?People who stutter often notice that

when they feel apprehensive aboutspeaking this is linked to negativethoughts or predictions about the situa-tion. These tend to be about stuttering it-self (i.e: “I’ll get stuck”; “It’ll go on for-ever”), how other people will react (i.e:“they’ll laugh at me, they’ll ignore me”)and how they will be viewed (i.e:“they’ll think less of me”, “they’ll thinkthere’s something wrong with me”).They may then find that they approachthe situation with more emotional andphysical tension than they would other-wise have done, and that as a result theyare indeed more likely to stutter.Alternatively they may cope by doingsomething protective, such as decidingnot to speak, or choosing a safer word,which may offer a short term solutionbut not fit with how they want to copewith stuttering in the long term.Importantly, the dynamic of negativeself-talk and use of unhelpful copingstrategies can become a pattern whichreinforces rather than diminishes anxi-ety about speaking. At a deeper andmore complex level, individuals maydevelop an underpinning system of neg-ative assumptions and beliefs whichmore generally influences how they ex-perience the world.

What happens in therapy?One of the first tasks is to help clients

explore the links between their thoughts,feelings, physiological reactions and be-havioural responses, to introduce the

concept of the vicious circle and helpthem weigh up which of their typicalways of coping are helpful and whichare less so.Next, clients are encouraged to

carry out ‘experiments’ which helpthem to test predictions and see howaccurate they are. For example, a re-cent group of teenagers at the MichaelPalin Centre spent a morning watchingtheir therapists stuttering and noticinghow members of the public reacted, atask which they threw themselves intowholeheartedly, ensuring that we allstuttered sufficiently to make the ex-periment valid.

Cognitive therapists use questions tohelp clients explore other perspectives,and reach their own conclusions, takingcare to work collaboratively and avoidany sense of debate or instruction.Questions that we encourage clients toask themselves include:• What is the evidence that supports

my prediction?• Is there any evidence that what

I’m thinking is not entirely accurate,or that something else could be true?• Is there another way of looking at

things?People are also helped to recognise

when they are adopting an unhelpfulpattern of thinking or ‘thinking trap’.Our group of teenagers, and not a fewof the therapists and students too,recognised some of the following:

All or nothing thinking:This is where you look at things in ab-solute, black and white terms ratherthan considering a continuum of pos-sibilities. Perceiving something to be a‘total failure’ or ‘rubbish’ because it isnot 100% perfect is an example of allor nothing thinking.Catastrophising:You expect that the worst will happeneven when there is no evidence tosuggest that it might. You don’t con-sider other possible outcomes whichmight be just as, if not more likely.Mind-reading:Youmake assumptions about what otherpeople are thinking or are going to think.Over-generalisation:You make a sweeping conclusion onthe basis of one event, that goes farbeyond the current situation.Mental filterYou dwell on the negatives and mag-nify them or blow them out of propor-tion, while ignoring or minimising thepositives.Post mortem thinkingYou go over in your mind all thethings that went wrong and don’t payattention to the things you did well.Importantly, in cognitive therapy

there is recognition that adverse eventsdo occur. At times people who stutterface very real social stigma and some-times fears are justified. One of the realstrengths of this approach is that it fo-cuses on building coping strengths andproblem-solving skills so that individu-als are more flexible in their thinkingand more emotionally resilient whenthings are less than ideal.Research and the evidence baseThere is not a great deal of research

into the use of cognitive therapy withpeople who stutter yet, however severalstudies have discussed links betweensocial anxiety and stuttering, lendingweight to a theoretical argument for its’use. Fry, Botterill and Pring (2009) andMenzies, O’Brian, Onslow andPackman (2008) have recently referredto the use of cognitive therapy as a com-ponent of treatment for, respectively,teenagers and adults who stutter, andcertainly at a clinical level it seems to

...thoughts, feelings,physiological

and behaviouralresponses are linked...

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Therapy Continued from front

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The Stuttering Foundation hasannounced its 2009 Awards forExcellence in news reporting.The winning entries successfullyenhanced public understandingof this complex speech disorderduring the past year. “Journalistsin a variety of media have donean outstanding job of focusingon the causes and treatment ofstuttering over the past year,”said Jane Fraser, president of the62-year-old nonprofit founda-tion. “We were particularlypleased this year to see an in-creased focus on young people.”Three distinguished journalistsare honored for their outstandingcontributions. They are:Category: Daily NewspapersFirst Place: Martha Phifer,

The Orlando Sentinel, Orlando,Florida. “Take con-trol of stuttering.”The English andSpanish articlesgive readers thetools needed toidentify stutteringand offers usefuladvice on how tohelp children over-come stuttering. These articlesprovide different points of view onthe problem, offer lots of re-sources for help, and reach a largeHispanic audience.Second Place: Kit Bradshaw,

Jupiter Courier, Stuart, Florida.“Kids who stutterdon’t want to bedefined by theirspeech,” a multi-media presenta-tion, providesreaders with posi-tive and accurateinformation aboutstuttering throughthe viewpoint of two teens.Speech-language pathologist Liz

Blake shares accurate informa-tion with viewers.Third Place: Jill Moon, The

Telegraph, Alton,Illinois. “Don’tstifle stutterers.”Moon focused onhelp for classroomteachers with stu-dents who stutterincluding resourcesat the local library.

Category: Television

Honorary First Place:Producer Diana Montano andTelemundo TV for their timelysegment on stuttering, targetingSpanish-speaking parents withhelp nationwide. This excellentsegment featured speech-languagepathologist Lisette Betancourt ofMiami Children’s Hospital.The awards were announced

during National StutteringAwareness Week, May 11-17.San Diego Charger Darren

Sproles led this year’s awarenesscampaign. Among other famouspeople who stutter are VP JoeBiden, actor James Earl Jones,20/20’s John Stossel, and bas-ketball star Kenyon Martin. Acomplete list of famous peoplewho stutter can be found atwww.stutteringhelp.org. �

Journalism Award WinnersMedia Awards Celebrate 18th Year

Kit Bradshaw

Diana Montano, left, speakswith Lisette Betancourt.

Jill Moon

Martha Phifer

FALL 2009 3800-992-9392STUTTERINGFOUNDATION

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Don’t Let StutteringPut You On the Bench.

NBA All Star and Hall of Famer Bill Walton never let his stuttering problem keep him out of the game. Today millions

of fans recognize his authoritative voice as a sports commentator. Bill Walton got in the game, and so can you.

If you or someone you know stutters, write or call:

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1-800-992-9392www.stutteringhelp.org

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STUTTERINGFOUNDATIONA Nonprofit OrganizationSince 1947—Helping Those Who Stutter

®

ESPN readers from across thecountry are calling and emailingthe Foundation after seeing full-page public service ads in notonly one but two issues of themagazine this summer. The donat-ed ads are reaching hundreds ofpeople who want help with stut-tering. Thank you, ESPN! �

everything we had very quick-ly. Many were disappointedwhen we ran out of materials.”“Rio was a wonderful con-

ference,” said therapist WillieBottherill. She added, “We hada lovely time distributing SFAmaterials to people who reallywanted and needed them.” �

Rio Continued from front

Dr. JenniferWatsonand TomWatson.Tom pitchedin withmuch-neededhelp at theconference site.

Speech therapists look overStuttering Foundation materials.

Hits Home Run


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hearing the happy and angryconversations compared to theneutral one.The children who stutter used

about the same frequency of regu-latory behaviors across the happy,angry, and neutral conversations.I also found that the children

who stutter using fewer emotionregulation strategies also stutteredmore. In other words, it appearsthat use of regulatory behaviors isrelated to stuttering; however, wedo not know if the stuttering de-creases the occurrence of the regu-latory behaviors or if less regulato-ry behavior results in more stutter-ing. Further research is needed toanswer this question.More recently, I studied electri-

cal brain responses (i.e., event-re-lated potentials) when 4 and 5year old children who stutter lis-tened to sentences while theywatched a cartoon. These 26 chil-dren, thirteen who stutter and

thirteen who don’t, were in theirfirst year of a longitudinal projectdirected by Anne Smith andChristine Weber-Fox at Purdue.When we analyzed their brain

responses, we saw subtle, but sta-tistically significant, differencesfor the children who stutter com-pared to their peers who do notstutter. The differences in brainactivity were more pronouncedwhen the children heard wordsthat were out of order in a sen-tence (“He wanted this that ball”)rather than the meaning of words(“He stood on the one music”).This study is helping us to under-

stand that the brain activity forlanguage may differ for somechildren who stutter when theyare simply listening to speechwithout speaking themselves.I’ve also started studying the

body’s response to emotions(i.e., autonomic arousal) by mea-suring changes in the skin relat-ed to sweat gland activity andblood flow. This study includesschool-age children who stutterand their peers who do not dur-ing speech and non-speech tasks.Because the recordings we use

are “kid friendly,” the childrenoften talk about how much funthey had and even ask when theycan return! I hope that these andother studies will help us betterunderstand stuttering and even-tually lead to therapy that helpsprevent chronic stuttering.If you live in Indiana and

would like your child who stut-ters to participate in our studies,e-mail [email protected]. �

Hayley S. Arnold works with ayoung client.

Childhood Continued from front

have a good fit with clients’ experienceand therapy goals.In summaryCognitive Therapy is not concerned

with teaching clients to ‘think positive-ly’ or to be more ‘rational’. It is con-cerned with helping people to under-stand the way in which their thinking af-fects them on a day-to-day basis, and tocope with difficulties more effectivelyby being more flexible in how they lookat and respond to situations, developingmore effective problem-solving skills,maximising the use of more helpful self-talk, and developing life-enhancing corebeliefs. It provides a structure for thera-pists to explore their own negativethoughts, emotions and responses, andto understand parents’ anxieties better.At the Michael Palin Centre cogni-

tive therapy may be integrated intowork on fluency skills, desensitisationor general communication skills, or itmay be delivered on its own for youngadults and adults who want to focusmore the psychological aspects of theirexperience. It is particularly important

in our work with children, parents andyoung people where developing a ro-bust and positive self-view is likely toprotect against future difficulties.Where to find out moreThere are a number of self-help

resources available which provide agood place to start, some of whichare listed below.In addition, the Stuttering Foundation

has recently released the DVD, Tools forSuccess, which provides a “taster” to thecore skills of CBT, presented by speechtherapists from the Michael Palin Centreand based on a workshop held in Bostonin 2008. (Photos shown in this article arefound in the new DVD)In the USA Christine Padesky is a

high-profile clinician, writer and

trainer at the Centre for CognitiveTherapy (www.padesky.com) whoprovides training and resources formental health professionals.References

Fry, J., Botterill, W., & Pring, T (2009). The ef-fect of an intensive group therapy programme foryoung adults who stutter: A single subject study.International Journal of Speech-LanguagePathology, 11 (1): 12-19.

Menzies, G., O’Brien, S., Onslow, M., Packman,A., St Clare, T & Block, S. (2008). An experimentalclinical trial of a cognitive-behaviour therapy pack-age for chronic stuttering. Journal of Speech,Language and Hearing Research, 51, 1451 -1464.

Self-help booksButler, G. (1999) Overcoming Social Anxiety

and Shyness. A self-help guide using CognitiveBehavioural Techniques. Robinson, London.

Butler, G. & Hope, T. (1995) Manage yourMind: The Mental Fitness Guide. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.

Willetts, L., & Creswell, C. (2007).Overcoming your child’s social anxiety and shy-ness: A self-help guide using cognitive-be-havioural techniques. Robinson. London

Jane Fry, MSc (Psych Couns).,Dip CT (Oxon), is a specialistspeech and language therapist atThe Michael Palin Centre forStammering Children, London U.K.,www.stammeringcentre.org. �

Therapy Continued from page 4


By Casey PearceChargers.com

Darren Sproles spent a Maymorning encouraging approxi-mately 30 youngsters who, likethe star running back, battlestuttering issues.When Alex Scharnitzky, a

sixth grader at San Diego’s DePortola Middle School, shookhands with Darren Sproles, itwasn’t justabout meetinghis favoriteathlete. It wasabout findingc o m m o nground withsomeone whohas faced andovercome similar obstacles.“I didn’t know anyone else

who stutters and my dad told methat there was a famous footballplayer who stutters, too,”Scharnitzky said. “It was cool toknow that I’m not the only one.”As part of National

Stuttering Awareness Week,Sproles visited roughly 30 SanDiego students who also strug-gle with the speech disorder.The students gathered at MorseHigh School where Sproles an-swered many of their ques-tions, signed autographs andmingled with the group for ap-proximately an hour.“I was nervous at first, but I’m

glad I got to meet these kids,”Sproles said. “Hopefully I encour-aged them a little.”

Sproles, who has stutteredthroughout his life, sat in frontof the room as students askedhim not only about life in theNFL, but also about his person-al speech struggles.“Sometimes when I talk, I try

to go too fast, and that’s what getsme in trouble,” he explained. “Ifyou put a camera in my face, I get

ne rvous .T h a t ’ swhen it(stuttering)comes outthe most.Once I getr e l a x e d ,I’m fine.I’ve got tostop and

breathe and just try to talk slow-er. That helps.”The students’ questions

were pointed. They asked if hewas picked on at school be-cause of his speech and wereeager to hear how he’s over-come his struggles.

“They got right to thepoint,” Sproles said. “Itold them that I never real-ly worry about it. If youlet something bother you,it can get in your way. It’s

like football. You just have towork at it.Sproles became acquainted

with the Stuttering Foundationthrough San Diego native andformer NBA star Bill Walton.Sproles has formed a friend-ship with Walton, and Waltonhas helped Sproles with therunning back’s speech issues.Sproles now serves as a na-

tional spokesman for theStuttering Foundation, and hisimage is featured on a largeposter that each student re-ceived. The poster contains themessage, “Stuttering didn’t keephim out of the game.”


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A ero of Their Own

NFL StarDarren Sproles

signs autographsfor young fans.

NFL Star Inspires Students

Continued on page 12


By Susan Hamilton, M.A.

Once again, Susan Hamilton andJennifer Watson concluded that thisyear's workshop was the best ever!Both presenters agree that "Wecouldn't have done it without ourawesome organizer Ellen Reuler."Reuler, a former workshopper, is theDirector of Clinical Services atPortland State University and wasresponsible for the behind the scenestasks that made the workshop flowseamlessly from start to finish.Susan Hamilton and Jennifer

Watson joined forces at the podiumfor this 5 day event where partici-pants were chosen from across theworld. This year we had attendeesfrom Canada, Thailand andArgentina as well as across theUnited States. Watson andHamilton’s goals for this year’sworkshop were to help the at-tendee’s to increase their “comforta-bility,” competence and confidencewhen treating children who stutter.“This group really impressed me in

that they were positive and so sup-portive of each other during the learn-ing process,” commented Watson.Both presenters agreed that the par-

ticipants were willing to step out oftheir comfort zones and build on pastexperiences to learn more about pro-viding therapy to children who stutter.“It takes courage to practice newlylearned skills in front of your peers,”stated Hamilton. This year's grouptook it a step farther and took theirnewly acquired skills and tools out tothe streets of Portland! Workshoppersagreed that it's vital to be willing to dowhat we ask our clients to do!One workshopper stated that " I

feel that a conference is suceess-ful if I take one thing away from aconference, well I've taken hun-dreds," another remarked that thiswas the best conference she hadattended in her career. " I can'twait to get back to work and startpracticing all of my new skillswith my clients!" �

Western Workshop is Best Ever ... Again6 www.stutteringhelp.org 800-992-9392STUTTERING

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Front row: Claudia Zapata, Ellen Reuler, Jane Fraser, SusanHamilton and Jennifer Watson. Middle row: Jaimee Kupferman,Srinikorn Prohmtong, Carrie Smigelski, Kristy Stefanucci, AmandaWells, Jennifer Irvine and Liliana Bejarano. Back row: P.J. Seymour,Alicia Fox, Mary Ackles, Cecelia Myers, Jennifer Katz, GailRothwell and Stephanie Cooper.

Susan Hamiltonfacilitatesa session.

Small groupswork together.

Participants enjoy Susan and Jennifer’s interaction.


By Diane Parris, M.A.Boston University

Twenty speech-language pathol-ogists gathered at BostonUniversity’s Department ofSpeech, Language, and HearingSciences for a 5-day workshop.They came from twelve states andtwo foreign countries - Thailandand Australia - with backgroundsas diverse as their geographicalorigins. However, from June 10 –14th, they shared one thing incommon: increasing their exper-tise in the diagnosis and treatmentof children who stutter.Hosted by Diane Parris, MS

CCC/SLP Clinical AssociateProfessor, a team of extraordi-nary researchers and master clin-icians provided the right blend ofinformation and skills training tohelp increase confidence andcompetence in an integrated ap-proach to fluency therapy.The program included: Dr.

Edward Conture, Professor andDirector of Graduate Studies atVanderbilt University, DianeParris, Dr. Sheryl Gottwald,Assistant Professor at theUniversity of New Hampshire,Dr. David Luterman, Professor atEmerson College, and AdrianaDiGrande, MS CCC/SLP,Adjunct Clinical Faculty atBoston University.Direct clinical skills training

culminated in mock therapy ses-sions with children gatheredfrom the local area.Participants commented that

the ‘hands on’ learning was ahighlight of the program. Oneworkshopper said, “This is thebest professional training I havehad since grad school. It was soempowering to have these ex-perts here with us for ‘stutteringboot camp.’ I felt quite comfort-able exploring the limits of pro-fessional knowledge, and making

this journey with such wonderfulcolleagues.”Many were inspired by the

practical nature of the trainingand by the friendships that result-ed from the intensive nature ofthe program including sharingliving quarters in theUniversity’s dorms.

As they begin to implementtheir new learning with clients,most will also be offering in-service training to colleagues inupcoming months. Spreadingthe knowledge and skills pro-vided in the regional work-shops is essential to the missionof the Foundation. �


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New England Hosts 11th Workshop

Front row (left to right): Sheryl Gottwald, Judi Cheng, Jane Fraser, VoonPang, Rachel Whorton and Christian Oliva. Middle row: Kathy Thomas, JoyKling, Maryann Kaminsky, Nittaya Kasemkosin, Adriana DiGrande, AndreaElson, Beth Deiter, Carol Hinchey and Gayle Daly. Back row: Laura Graham,Kari Meyer, Francine Vasquez, Laura Buckley, Patricia Keiling, JoanneBoucher, Beth Baccari, Diane Parris and Michele Coogan.

Dr. Conture reviews DualDiathesis Stressor Model ofStuttering.

Workshoppers relaxduring a break.

Dr. Gottwald focuses on treat-ment of preschoolers.

Diane Parris facilitatesa practice session forscoring disfluencies.

Dr. Lutermanconductingdirect skillstraining.


I plan to make changesin all aspects of my

interactions withstudents who stutter

and their families.I now have a clearer

understandingof evaluation

and counseling.~ Workshop Attendee


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Front row: Julie Raynor, Brenda Ross, Kavita Kaul, Susan Beers and PatBrush-Lorey. Second row: Juliane Svingen, Barbara Johnson, DianeMonroe,Jane Fraser, Jennifer Mollerud, Toni Cilek and Jamie Ryan. Third row:Kathryn Johnson, Tricia Zebrowski, Donna Smith and Nereida Ybarra. Backrow: Terry Douglas, Yoshimasa Sakata, MicheleMikita, Julia Hollister, StacieGreene and Kyle Brouwer.

Dr. Scott demonstrates assessment tools.A “get-together” at the end of theday.

Donna Smith and Yoshimasa Sakata.

Jennifer Mollerud and Kavita Kaul.

Participants hard at work.

By Patricia Zebrowski, Ph.D.University of Iowa

This year’s Midwest Workshopwas held in Iowa City, under theleadership of Dr. Patricia Zebrowskiwith Dr. Lisa Scott of The FloridaState University as guest lecturerduring the five day course.“We continue to attract strong

applicants tothe MidwestWorkshop –and this year’sgroup of prac-titioners metour expecta-

tions – and then some,” saysTricia Zebrowski.This year’s attendees hailed

from Iowa, Illinois, California,Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota,Virginia, Texas and Japan.Added Zebrowski, “Teaching

this workshop gives me the op-portunity to talk about how re-search and clinical practicecomplement each other and tohear from others about how thisrelationship functions in thereal world.”One attendee remarked, “I

hope to be much more effectivewhen treating children who stut-ter and be a better communica-tor with parents.”Another said, “The way I pro-

vide stuttering therapy haschanged dramatically. I now feelthat I have a plan of action...” �

Iowa Workshop Sizzles!

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Rising Blues StarFollowing in the footsteps of

blues legends B.B. King andJohn Lee Hooker, teen guitaristMyles Mancuso loves the“blues.” Myles is an outstandingperformer and also a person whostutters - just like King andHooker. He has shared some per-sonal insights with the StutteringFoundation not only about hismusic but also about how hedeals with stuttering.Q. How did you get startedin the music business?A. I got started when I wasnine years old when Iplayed on stage with LevonHelm from "The Band" inWoodstock. Then shortlyafter that I played at a fewshows in NYC that werepromoted by Sid Bernstien,he is the promoter thatbrought the Beatles toAmerica.Q. What instruments doyou play, and how do youclassify your music?A. I playthe guitar,piano, bass,sax anddrums. Eventhough mymusic has"bluesy" ele-ments, I stillconsider it to beclassified as a mix soul, funkand R&B.Q. What was your reaction to theB.B. King and John Lee Hookerfeature in the last SFA newsletterissue?A. It surprised me because Inever knew that BB King andJohn Lee Hooker were stutterers.I've noticed when they talk - theycontrol it so well. I really re-spect them for their music and

effort to overcometheir stuttering.Q. Do you think aboutyour stutter when youare on stage?A. When I'm on stage all of myproblems seems to disappear be-cause I'm so comfortable in frontof an audience that I usuallydon't stutter.

Q. Have you sought therapy tohelp with stuttering?A. Yes, I went through speechtherapy most of my elementaryyears and the first part of mymiddle school years. I feel thetechniques my speech therapistgave me have helped a lotthrough the years.Q. How do friends or familymembers treat you in regards toyour speech?A. I try to talk as smooth as I can

around my friends and so a lot ofthem don't notice my stuttering.My family treats me like I speaknormally.Q. Do you think stuttering holdsyou back in anyway?

A. My stuttering does nothold me back because I'velearned that even if I do stut-ter and people do make funof me - no one can changewho I am inside.Q. You have met many fa-mous people. Is there a per-son who stands out as par-ticularly meaningful to you?A. Tab Benoit stands outmost to me - not only be-cause of his great guitarplaying and song writing,

but because of his pas-sion for sav-ing theLouisianaWetlands. Ihave a lot ofrespect forsomeone whodevotes theirlife to a certaincause.

Q. Do you plan to stay in theentertainment field as a life-long career?A. Yes, I plan to play musicand be a producer or composerlike Quincy Jones. I'm startingto look at music colleges be-cause I'm going into HighSchool this fall.

For show dates, more articles,pictures and other information,visit www.mylesmancuso.com. �


Be YourselfDear SFA:Hi I’m Tyrell. This is my story.I have been stuttering for as

long as I can remember and it re-ally is a big thing with me. Well,when I was little that is. I alwayshad a hard time controllingmy stuttering. I would talkreally fast and then getcaught up on a word. Iwould try to talk fast be-cause I won’t stutter. Thetime I usually did waswhen I talked slow.I don’t get mad over it

anymore because I’molder now, and I won’t letpeople get to me whenthey talk about me and mystuttering. I just brush itoff and keep going. I real-ly can’t say I was born stut-tering because maybe I wasand maybe I wasn’t. To tellyou the truth stuttering isthe main reason I never talkout loud during class. It’salso the reason why I don’t go onstage in front of anybody or evenread out loud. It’s just somethingI have never been able to do. Sofor every one who stutters, don’tlet what others say about it getyou down. Stay strong and beyourself. If they can’t accept youfor who you are, then that’s theirloss. To every one like me: smileand be happy. Never let anyonehold you back.Good-bye and good luck!

TyrellE-mail

Speech Teacher HelpsDear SFA:I am a 10-year-old boy named

Mustafah. I do not like whenpeople make fun of me when Istutter. I do not like when I stut-ter, but it doesn’t really matter to

me. It only gets on my nerveswhen other people say, “Why doyou go ahah ahah ah?” Then Iget mad. I try to stop but some-times it is hard. I only stutterwhen I am trying to get myselfout of trouble or tell on some-

body when they have done some-thing bad. How do you makepeople stop stuttering if theyhave a really, really hard timestopping?At school, I have a Speech

Therapist that is really nice and Ilove her because she really helpsme with my stuttering. Since Ihave been going to speech I havebeen getting a lot better at talkingand not so much stuttering. Atspeech, I am reading this bookcalled Sometimes I Just Stutter. Ittalks about how other peoplestutter and how they feel. Like,people have different emotionsand do different things to stopstuttering. Some of the people inthis book, do not have anyfriends because they stutter andmake fun of them. I try to stopstuttering by talking fast and

slow at the same time. This bookhelps me go with the flow andjust let it out sometimes.Thank you and goodbye from,Mustafah, 10California

AnsweringQuestionsDear SFA:My name is Aaron and Iam in 5th grade.I do not really mind stut-tering but it really annoysme when people ask aboutit. Because it annoys me, Idon’t answer. They keepasking and trying to get itout of me. After about themillionth time, I answerthat some other people doit and no one is quite surewhy. This answer does notalways satisfy them.Because it doesn’t satisfythem, they don’t botherwith me. That makes mefeel unhappy.

In my speech class, we are goingto be putting on a video with apower point presentation to edu-cate the school about stuttering.Thank you for your time,AaronCalifornia

Techniques HelpDear SFA:I started to realize I stuttered

when I was in first grade, and Iwas 6 years old. Then, a couplemonths later, I started going tospeech. This year is my thirdyear because I’m in third gradenow, and 8 years old. I’ve beenusing something called FrogEyes and Load the Raft. Now, Iam less bumpy and smoother.Nick, 8Grafton, Wis.


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Send letters to SFA, P.O. Box 11749, Memphis, TN 38111-0749 or e-mail [email protected].

Dear SFA: Reader Response

My name is Andrew. I am 8 years old. I am in 2ndgrade. I stutter so don’t feel like your alone be-cause our bodies stutter sometimes.

Andrew, 8Litchfield, Maine


Like a TrainDear SFA:My name is William. I am 8

years old. I live inMiami, Fla. I like toplay basketball. I justmight be a basketballplayer. I started stutter-ing at age 6. I like myspeech class. It helps menot to stutter. My friendsdo not tease me. I thinkthat speech is like a trainbecause when you donot stutter, you are at theend of the train. I feelO.K. about my stutter-ing. I stutter a lot.William, 8Miami, Fla.

Reading LettersDear SFA,Thank you for putting

letters from kids thatstutter in your magazine.It shows that you careabout stuttering kids.Because in the letters wecan read them out loudand that will help us notto stutter. If someonesays that you stutter, yousay, “I do stutter. AndI’m working on it.” Ifeel pretty good aboutmyself right now be-cause my speech teacheris helping me get betterwith my speech.Shane, 11Crestline, Ohio

Keeping the UpperHand on StutteringHi, my name is Will and I stut-

ter. Even though my parents saidthat I started stuttering when Iwas 3, I didn’t realize it until Iwas in second grade. I felt sad thatmy friends could speak betterthan I did. At the same time I be-came aware that when I said thePledge of Allegiance with myclassmates, recited a poem with a

friend or sang songs with my sis-ters, my words came out more flu-ently. Our class was preparing fora play. I was really nervous,

thinking I would stutter, so Iasked my teacher if I could saymy lines with a friend. She said Icould! It was a relief!! The play

was great! It was after that when Irealized that I couldn’t alwaysrely on someone to talk for, orwith me. That’s when Susan

Cochrane stepped into mylife. She’s been my speechtherapist ever since thatweek in the Spring of2006!!!I’m telling you this be-

cause now I’m ready tomanage my own stutter-ing. Not only am I readyto do this on my own, I amgeared up to help otherswho struggle with theirspeaking. Since secondgrade, I’ve come a longway. Over time, I havelearned to overcome fearsabout speaking. Once Ilearned to accept my stut-tering I was able to learnabout belly breathing,phonating, and learningabout what I call “socialchords” (vocal folds); notto mention articulating! Ialso learned about all ofthe parts of my body thatyou’ve probably neverheard of before, like thepalate. Ask someone whatit is!! I have really bene-fited from Ms. Susie. Thisall seems tiring to learn,but not with an awesomespeech therapist like Mrs.Cochrane.Will, 5th gradeGeneva, N.Y.

Tips for TeasingDear SFA:When I stutter it’s because

I’m excited. I talk really fast whenI’m excited. So, it doesn’t give myspeech machine enough time to con-


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I drew this picture of George because sometimesyou have easy speech days and some days youhave terrible, bad speech days. If you are likeGeorge, here are some tips for bad speech days:1. Relax your mouth2. If you are talking fast and you start to stutter,slow down!3. If you try to push it out really hard, it might takelonger to come out and your face might turn red.I want people who have bad speech days to know

that it’s okay to stutter.Aaron, 8, Iowa City, Iowa

Letters Continued from page 10

The Stuttering Foundationis a proud participant of theCombined Federal Campaign.Please note our number.CFC #11047



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centrate. A way I help it is to talkloudly and slowly. I practice it mostlyin speech therapy. From practicing somuch now, even ifI don’t think aboutit, I talk loudly butnot so slowly. I’mlucky because kidsdon’t tease meabout stuttering,but my brotherdid. Itmademe re-ally sad when hedid, but he doesn’tany more. If kidsdo tease you, ig-nore them and tellan adult or talk tothem about stutter-ing and tell themwhat it is. Youcould tell kids“that’s called stut-tering. Stuttering iswhen my speechmachine jams upand I make mywords come outlike that. So some-times I can’t help itand it is reallyfrustrating.”Trevor, 10Denver, Colo.

I Feel GoodDear SFA:Hi. My name is Moshe. I’m 6

years old. I’m in first grade. I stut-ter in school and at home. When Istutter, it bothers me and I feel sad.My mom takes me to a therapist tohelp me. I feel good about myself.Moshe, 6Brooklyn, N.Y.

Famous People StutterDear SFA:My name is Andre. I am 11

years old and in fifth grade. I am

the only person in my familywho stutters. When I was askedabout my stuttering, I feltashamed.But when I soon learned that

many people who were kings,queens, etc., stuttered, I was as-tonished!King John IV stuttered (in the

U.K. he was called a stammerer)and Petolemy, ruler of Egypt,stuttered too.Andre, 11Miami, Fla.

Basketball DreamsDear SFA:My name is Edwin. I am 10 years

old, and I live in Miami, Fla. My fa-vorite hobby isbasketball be-cause I want to bea basketball play-er. I started to stut-ter at the age of 9.My speech teach-er helps me mostof the time withmy stuttering.Edwin, 10Miami, Fla.

Take TimeTalkingDear SFA:My name is

D’Angelo. I am 12years old and livein Miami, Fla. Ilike to play foot-ball. I like myspeech class be-cause my teacherhelps me withspeech and now Itake my time talk-

ing. That helps me from stuttering.D’Angelo, 12Miami, Fla.

Donʼt Pressure YourselfDear Eddie,I read your story in the book

Sometimes I Just Stutter. I had a com-ment aboutwhat you said about yourstuttering problems. I think youshouldn’t pressure yourself aboutyour stuttering. I do it too. I thinkyour therapist is right about stuttering.TylerPortland, Ore. �

Kids Speak Out on Darrenʼs VisitStudents gathered at Morse High School for Fluency Awareness

Day gave Darren Sproles high marks. It is not surprising the numberone comment was, “My favoritepart of the event was Mr. Sproles,of course!”One student said, “I learned today

that stuttering should never get inmyway. It doesn’t have to stop me fromdoing what I really want to do.”“It was great meeting Darren

Sproles. He stutters just like me.It’s okay to stutter!” commented another student.Vinita Rajah who worked so hard to make the visit a reality com-

mented, “I cannot even begin to say how amazing this event was.The students left feeling elated and empowered. Our schoolprincipal was just as excited!”“We are extremely happy to have Sproles as our spokesman.

He is a role model for young people who struggle with stutteringbecause he never gave up working to achieve his dreams,” saysJane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation.

For the full story written by San Diego Chargers reporter, go to“A Hero of Their Own” on page 5.

“It’s wonderful for these kidsto have a role model likeDarren,” said Jennifer Taps,Senior Speech and LanguagePathologist for the San DiegoUnified School District. “Itmeans so much because in a lot

of ways, they feel like they’realone, that they’re the only onesthat have this kind of challenge.To see someone with the samechallenge that is so successful,it’s really encouraging to them.”Taps was impressed that

Sproles engaged the students asa group and carefully answered

each question.“As he said, this kind of a

group environment is a chal-lenge for him, yet he was out-standing,” Taps said. “It wouldhave been easy for him to justsit down and sign autographs,but he didn’t ask for that. Hewas outstanding.” �

Sproles Continued from page 5

Letters Continued from page 11


While the world knows Bruce Willisas an A-list actor, few know that hestruggled with stuttering throughout hisfirst 20 years.Walter BruceWillis was born in 1955

in West Germany to his German moth-er, Marlene, and his American GI fa-

ther, David Willis. The family set-tled in David’s hometown of

Penns Grove, New

Jersey in 1957, and the couple hasthree other children.AfterWillis came onto the

radar screen in 1985 withhis role as DavidAddison in thehot TV show

Moonlighting,the actor wouldoccasionally discuss his past struggleswith stuttering in both print and televi-sion interviews.In the 1997 book, Bruce Willis: The

Unauthorized Biography, by British au-thor John Parker, Willis is quoted as say-ing, “I could hardly talk. It took me threeminutes to complete a sentence. It wascrushing for anyone who wanted to ex-press themselves, who wanted to be heardand couldn’t. It was frightening.Yet, whenI became another character, in a play, I lostthe stutter. It was phenomenal.”Parker also writes that Willis had a

definite formula to conquer his stutteringby implementing a series of confidencebuilding exercises encouraged by aschool speech therapist.According to a 2001 biography, Bruce

Willis: Overcoming Adversity, by Sandy

Asirvatham, Willis admitted that at timeshe was reluctant to discuss his childhoodin probing interviews because it was toopainful and a large part of the pain wasdue to his stuttering.In high school, Willis became the class

cut-up, which eventually lead to gettinginvolved in drama. Becoming theclass joker was his way oftrying to

fit in. In fact,Anthony Rastelli, a high

school teacher vividly remembersWillis’ struggles and first attempts tospeak before an audience. Rastelli is quot-ed in Parker’s book as saying, “At an agewhen most boys were finding their feet,Willis had a hard time. The stammer wasa problem and in the end he began tocompensate for it by his antics.He had to establish himself among the

pack, and, unable to do so with fluentspeech, he did it another way – makinghimself stand out in the crowd by becom-ing the joker, the mini-tearaway.What hewas doing was saying ‘Yes, I stutter – butdoesn’t mean I’m not good as the rest ofyou, better even.’ I nearly died for himwhen he went on stage to make a speech.The kids were all laughing but somehow,he stuck it out and finished his piece,which was fairly typical of his spirit.Andeventually, of course, he discovered thatin front of an audience, he could over-come his disability.”Willis achieved the image that he

strived for by first cutting-up in class andthen becoming one of his high school’sdrama stars. Willis later told an interview-er, “Abig part of my sense of humor cameout of my stuttering, in trying to overcome

thata n d

have somedignity. I said,

Yes, I stutter, but Ican make you laugh.”However, Willis left

high school with no definite deci-sion to become an actor.As a stutteringyouth with poor grades and a family

that could notfund a college educa-tion, Willis hung aroundtown and saved his money.After acouple of years, Willis enrolled atMontclair State College in New Jerseywhich had a noted drama program. It wasthere that drama professor, JerryRockwood, was impressed by Willis andencouraged him to see a speech therapist- making the combination of acting andspeech therapy the undergrad’s ticket toboth fluency and future success.Willis’spectacular acting career explod-

ed from Moonlighting to Hollywood’s A-list, and to box office smashes - The SixthSense, Armageddon, Bonfire of theVanities and the Die Hard franchise ofmovies. Willis ranks as the 7th highest-grossing actor in terms of leading roles.Willis’ struggle with stuttering is in-

spirational. Unfortunately, it is rarelymentioned in interviews. However, byidentifying himself as a person whostutters, Willis has an opportunity to puta human face on the daily struggle stut-tering often presents. �


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LLOOOOKK WWHHOO’’SS TTAALLKKIINNGG***Bruce Willis starred in the1989 movie Look Who’s Talkingas the voice of baby “Mikey.”


�The annual ISAD On-lineConference, More than a TangledTongue, Oct. 1-22, Inter nationalStuttering Awareness Day. Go towww.stutteringhomepage.com

Books on Stuttering or Related Topics�Treatment of Stuttering: Established andEmerging Approaches: Conventional andControversial Interventions by Barry Guitar.2009. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore.www.LWW.com

�Clinical Decision Making in FluencyDisorders by Walter H. Manning. (2009) DelmarCengage Learning, Clifton Park, NY.www.cengage.com.�Practical Intervention for Early ChildhoodStammering by Elaine Kelman and AlisonNicholas. (2008) Speechmark Publishing, Ltd.Milton Keynes, U.K., www.speechmark.net. �Stammering, Advice for All Ages by ReneeByrne and Louise Wright. (2008), SheldonPress, London,www.sheldonpress.co.uk

�Speak Freely: Essential Speech Skills forSchool-Age Children Who Stutter by MarkAllen, Ph.D., (2007) Speak Freely Publications,Evanston, IL, www.cfst.com

�Stuttering: An Integrated Approach to ItsNature and Treatment, Third Edition by BarryGuitar. 2006. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins,Baltimore, www.LWW.com

�Beyond Stammering, Revised edition byDavid Maguire. (2008) Souvenir Press, London.�Stuttering Recovery Personal and EmpiricalPerspectives by Dale F. Williams. 2006.Available from Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,Mahwah, NJ, www.erlbaum.com

�Speech Therapy for the Severe OlderAdolescent and Adult Stutterer: A Program forChange by George Helliesen. 2006. Availablefrom Apollo Press, Newport News, VA, 800-683-9713, www.apollopress.com

�The Child and Adolescent StutteringTreatment and Activity Resource Guide by PeterRamig and Darrell Dodge. 2005. Available fromThomson Delmar Learning, Clifton Park, NY.�Early Childhood Stuttering: For Clinicians byClinicians by Ehud Yairi and Nicoline GrinagerAmbrose. 2005. Available from ProEd, Austin, TXand amazon.com. �

By Peter Reitzes, MA CCC-SLP

Altered auditory feedback (AAF) hasbeen used since the 1960s with peoplewho stutter to reduce stuttering behaviors.Currently, the most utilized types of AAFare delayed auditory feed-back (DAF) and frequen-cy altered feedback(FAF). DAF and FAFtechnologies are nowavailable in portable pros-thetic devices. The mostadvanced devices areworn in one ear and areindistinguishable fromhearing aids. ProstheticAAF devices capture thespeaker’s speech signal,digitally alter the signaland then re-introduce thealtered speech signal intothe speaker’s ear. DAF returns the

speech signal to theuser’s ear with delaytimes of varying lengths.The user feels as if he is speaking in uni-son with himself or speaking in an echochamber. FAF returns the speech signalwith an altered pitch. Many users choosehigher pitch settings which return an“Alvin and the Chipmunks” type of voiceto the user’s ear. Lower “Darth Vader”sounding pitch settings are used as well. People who stutter report varying de-

grees of benefit using portable prostheticdevices. Some report that the devices arehelpful and practical across a range ofspeaking situations; others find that thedevices lose some or much of their stut-tering-reducing effects over time or areuncomfortable and awkward. There are

multiple theories or beliefs as to whyDAF and FAF are able to alleviate and re-duce, at least initially, the symptoms ofstuttering. One theory is that DAF createsa speaking experience which is similar tospeaking in chorus or unison, thus reduc-

ing stuttering behaviors.Additionally, it has been

noted by many that DAFslows the speaker’s rate ofspeech which may accountfor reduced stuttering. There are now less expen-

sive options that make use ofBluetooth technology usinghandheld computers andphones. For $1600VoiceAmp offers theirFluency Enhancer devicewhich looks similar to aniPod or other mp3 player.The Fluency Enhancer is dig-

ital and its softwarecan be upgraded asAAF technology andoptions improve.

The ArtefactSoft software companysells the DAF Assistant for Apple’siPhone and iPod Touch. This soft-ware application includes both DAFand FAF and is available for down-load for $9.99. ArtefactSoft’s PocketDAF/FAF Assistant software applica-tion (version 2.0) sells for $69.95 andis used with portable devices runningWindows Mobile 5.0 operating sys-tems in conjunction with Bluetooth(wireless) headsets.If you are interested in trying AAF,

download free software for DAF andFAF from Rick Arenas’ Web sitehttp://myweb.uiowa.edu/rarenas/index.htm. �

3100 Walnut Grove Road, Suite 603P.O. Box 11749 • Memphis, TN 38111-0749

STUTTERINGFOUNDATION

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This newsletter is published quarterly. Please e-mail addresschanges and story ideas to [email protected].

Volume18, Issue 3Renee Shepherd . . . . . . . . . . . . . EditorScot Squires . . . . . . . . . . Writer/DesignerSpecial thanks to Joan Warner, Patty Reed,Susie Hall, Pat Hamm, Lisa Hinton, TerriJones, and Carol Ecke.

International Stu

ttering

Awareness Day i

s Oct. 22!

Less Costly Options for Electronic Devices

fall_newsletter_2009:newsletter 8/28/09 9:37 AM Page 16

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