Human’s are interpretative creatures which means as we move through our lives we create meaning. This steady accumulation of meaning, is articulated to us, the protagonists, in the form of stories. We have a host of stories about ourselves. A story about our relationships. A story about our work. A story about our time at … Read more
I must admit I arrived with a little apprehension, this was the first time I had attended a public event related to stammering. I was aware that I was wearing two hats, as a person who stammers and a psychologist who has a special interest in working with PWS. The opening remarks by Mark Malcomson … Read more
Most of us will likely agree that the brain of a person who stammers works somewhat differently to the brain of someone who is fluent. What is not so clear, is how it is different. Earlier this year Dr Soo-Eun Chang at the University of Michigan spoke to Peter Reitzes from StutterTalk about her research … Read more
As a speech and language therapist who works in the field of stuttering who doesn’t stutter, I’ve lately taken an interest in the notion of “dysfluency pride” or “stuttering pride”. I have been drawn to “stuttering pride” because of the similarities I see in the “gay pride” movement. As a gay man who felt a … Read more
This month Sam is guest blogger for the Did I Stutter? Project – you may read her blog here
How can we help people who stutter come to understand stuttering as something other than the negative opposite of fluency? We can begin by exploring with them the mechanisms of ableism that position those with disabilities as inferior. People do not exist in a vacuum. Discourses that give meaning to our world pre-exist our births. … Read more
Cathy and Sam invited me to discuss the Did I Stutter Project, a recently launched disability activist project for stutterers by stutterers, created by myself, Zach Richter, and Erin Schick this summer. Put most simply, we are a group of stutterers who want to be heard on our own terms, with two main goals: 1) … Read more
A week later and I am still feeling buoyed up by the positivity of the British Stammering Association’s National 2014 Conference, held in association with the Scottish Stammering Network in Glasgow. I was not sure what to expect as I made the long train journey north on Friday 22nd August, arriving just in time to … Read more
Where does the real problem of stammering lie? How does society communicate its values and norms about fluency and how does this affect people who stammer? How does the SLT tread the delicate path between helping their client manage their stammering more effectively (and increase ease of communication) without reinforcing unhelpful ideas about stammering (and … Read more
Launching ‘Stammering Therapy from the Inside’ 9th May 2013 at City Lit and the House of Commons Over 120 people who stammer and speech and language therapists gathered at City Lit for a day of talks relating to some of the key themes from the book. Trudy Stewart kicked off with an inspiring personal analysis … Read more