About the "Stuttering-Affirming Assessment and Therapy Across the Lifespan" Workshop:
Views about stuttering have been changing. Whereas stuttering was one primarily seen as a “speech disorder” that needed to “remediated” in order for speakers to succeed in life, the field has been increasingly moving toward a neurodiversity-affirming perspective that recognizes stuttered speech as the natural result of neurological differences in people who stutter.
While welcomed by many people who stutter, this change in perspective does not come without consequences for speech-language pathologists (SLPs). The purpose of this 10-hour continuing education workshop is to provide an updated, modern view of theory, assessment, and therapy practices for preschoolers, school-age children, teens, and adults who stutter. Detailed information will be provided about how to conduct assessments that account for multiple perspectives on stuttered speech (e.g., parents, teachers, clinicians, and, of course, the speaker who stutters), as well as the broader impact of stuttering on a speaker’s life. This information will be used to develop meaningful therapy goals that are focused on reducing adverse impact.
The majority of the program will focus on specific therapy procedures and activities that support natural, spontaneous, and authentic communication for students/clients of all ages. This will involve (a) activities that build a strong foundation of age-appropriate knowledge about speaking and stuttering; (b) skills that help speakers handle moments of stuttering comfortably and confidently, with reduced fear, struggle, and avoidance; (c) skills that help speakers speak more easily; (d) strategies for educating others about stuttering and reducing challenging events such as bullying and discrimination; and, (d) ways to focus therapy on minimizing adverse impact and improving speakers’ full participation in life, regardless of whether or how much they stutter.
Throughout the workshop, the presenter will provide examples and videos of therapy activities and address questions from participants about their own students and clients.
Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of this 10-hour workshop, participants will be able to:
- Describe a comprehensive and current definition of stuttering that includes both speaker and listener perspectives and accounts for the full range of experiences faced by people who stutter across the lifespan
- Explain the value of viewing stuttering from a neurodiversity-affirming perspective for people who stutter, caregivers and other family members, and society as a whole
- Describe the key assessment components of a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation for preschoolers, school-age children, teens, and adults who stutter
- List factors that contribute to stutter-affirming therapy recommendations, goal-selection, and activity planning for individuals who stutter in various age groups
Speaker info:
Dr. J. Scott Yaruss, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF, F-ASHA, H-ASHA, is a Professor of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University, where his research is funded by both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Yaruss has extensive experience working with children and adults who stutter in a variety of clinical settings. He has given more than 850 continuing education workshops around the world, designed to help speech-language pathologists become more confident in their ability to help individuals who stutter. He has authored more than 400 papers, articles, blog posts, chapters, or booklets on stuttering, including the Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES), as well as School-age Stuttering Therapy: A Practical Guide, Go-To Guide™: GETTING STARTED with School-Age Stuttering Therapy, Early Childhood Stuttering Therapy: A Practical Guide, Minimizing Bullying in Children Who Stutter, and other materials published by Stuttering Therapy Resources, Inc. (www.StutteringTherapyResources.com).
Financial Disclosures:
- Dr. Yaruss is receiving an honorarium for presenting this course.
- He is a salaried employee of Michigan State University.
- He is a co-owner of Stuttering Therapy Resources, Inc. and receives royalty payments and intellectual property income for stuttering-related materials.
- He receives research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Non-Financial Disclosures:
