By Ehud Yairi, Ph.D.,University of Illinois

A person’s stuttering is not random.Linguistic factors have been consid-ered relevant to stuttering especiallysince early research (Brown, 1937,1945) demonstrated their strong influ-ence on the occurrence of stutteringevents, or “moments of stuttering,” inspecific locations of the speech stream(e.g., the beginningof sentences andphrases) and inwords of certaingrammatical classes(e.g., verbs and ad-jectives). The linkbetween stutteringand language is es-pecially intuitive inyoung children.Several scholarshave noted that stuttering onset, typical-ly between ages 2 and 4, coincideswith the critical period of acceleratedexpansion in children’s expressive andreceptive language (Levina, 1963; Yairi,1983, Ratner, 1997). Thirty years ago,Cheverkeva (1977) proposed that stut-tering is basically a disorder of lan-guage development, an idea recentlyechoed by Bloodstein (2002).

The possible stuttering-language linkhas become a focus of scientific inter-est, reflected in several stuttering mod-els with psycholinguistic viewpoints.Among these are the Demands-Capac-ity Model (Starkweather, 1987), theCovert-Repair Hypothesis (Postma &Kolk, 1993), the Trade-Off Hypothesis

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

FFAALLLL 22000066

THE STUTTERING FOUNDATION

Inside...�SFA at 5th World Congress . . . . 2�Speech/language processes . . . . 2�Journalists honored . . . . . . . . . . 3�Help for back-to-school season . 4�Workshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 9�Kids use art to express feelings . 6�Teen speaks out . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7�News from Russia . . . . . . . . . . . 9

�

The Stuttering Foundation andthe Michael Palin Centre forStammering Children have

joined forces in a groundbreaking al-liance to help children who stutterthrough research, treatmentand training programs.

The Michael PalinCentre, based in Lon-don, England, iswidely consideredone of the premiertreatment cen-ters int h eworldfor child-hood stuttering;and it is active inresearch and thetraining of speech-lan-guage therapists. Whilethe Centre is based in London,it provides treatment for children aswell as training for therapists from allover the United Kingdom.

The Memphis-based StutteringFoundation is one of the leadingU.S.-based nonprofit organizationsdedicated to the prevention andtreatment of stuttering. Its publica-tions reach people in more than100 countries each year, and it isalso active in training speech lan-guage pathologists by sponsoringtraining courses for those who spe-cialize in stuttering.

More than 800 therapists haveparticipated in SFA workshops dur-ing the past 20 years, including145 from 32 countries around the

world. However, this will be thefirst direct involvement of the Stut-tering Foundation in a treatmentprogram.

“We are very excited at theprospect of working togeth-

er with SFA to promoteand provide a first

class service forchi ldren and

young adul tswho stammer,”

said FrancesCook,M.Sc.,

manag-er of the

Michael PalinCentre . “This

partnership be-tween our two orga-

nizations will combineour strengths and serve to

benefit our clients and therapists onboth sides of the Atlantic.”

“The alliance of the two organi-zations makes perfect sense,” saidJane Fraser, president of the Stut-tering Foundation. “The Palin Cen-tre’s top-notch treatment facilitymeans hope for thousands of chil-dren who stutter and for some timenow has provided an essentialtraining ground for researchers andclinicians.”

The Michael Palin Centre forStammering Children was official-ly opened in 1993. British comedi-an Michael Palin agreed to the cen-ter being named after him following

Ehud Yairi, Ph.D.

Is language a riskfactor in stuttering?

Geneticist Dennis Drayna joins SFA boardDennis Drayna,Ph.D.,

has joined the SFA Boardof Directors.

Dr. Drayna received hisB.A. from the University ofWisconsin in 1976, and hisPh.D. from Harvard Univer-sity in 1981.

Internationally recog-

nized for his work in ge-netics, he currently servesas Section Chief in the Na-tional Institute on Deafnessand Other CommunicationDisorders, NIH, where hepursues studies on the genet-ics of human communicationdisorders. ❑ Drayna

Continued on page 3Continued on page 8

Transatlantic alliance will help researchers, clinicians and children

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1-800-992-93922 www.stutteringhelp.org

Continued on page 4

By Anne Smith, Ph.D.,Purdue University

In July of this year, I was honoredto be a keynote speaker at the meet-ing of International Fluency Associ-ation in the wonderful city of Dublin,Ireland. In my talk, “PhysiologicalIndices of Speechand Language Pro-cesses: New Win-dows on the Onsetof Stuttering inYoung Children,”I reviewed someof the accomplish-ments of the Pur-due Stuttering Pro-ject and outlinedour ongoing re-search studies. Here are some of thehighlights from that talk:

First, to let you know our point ofview about stuttering — Despite thediversity of the disorder in differentpeople who stutter, all individualswho stutter exhibit breakdowns in themotor processes necessary for speak-ing. The factors that influence thesebreakdowns in speech are complex.We have proposed that a completemodel of stuttering must incorporatemotor, linguistic, cognitive, psychoso-cial, and genetic factors, and that themodel must explain how these factorsinteract during childhood to producethe disruptions in speech that makesone a person who stutters.

What we know from studies ofadults who stutter — Much of ourearlier work on the Purdue Stutter-ing Project was focused on adultswho stutter. These studies were es-sential to establish what the physio-logical bases of the disorder are in in-dividuals with chronic stuttering.Our findings, in addition to thosefrom many other research groups,mapped the differences in speechmovement and muscle activity thatoccur during disfluent speech in theface, voice, and breathing areas. Wealso looked at language processingin adults who stutter when they are

New windowson the onsetof stuttering

Anne Smith, Ph.D.

SFA at 5th World Congress

�Joseph Agius, Malta, at the SFA booth.

Blanca Gonzalez,Spain .

Front row: Lisa Avery, Canada; SimonaBernardini, Italy; Jane Fraser; and Massim-iliano Marchiori, Italy. Back row: SuzanaJelcic Jaksic, Croatia; JoAnne Wilding,Canada; Isis Meira, Brazil; Beatriz de Touzet,Argentina; Peter Tonev, Bulgaria; MeretheMoerk, Norway; Steen Fibiger, Denmark;Anne-Marie Simon, France; David Shapiro,U.S.A; Florence Juillerat, Switzerland andMirjana Lasan, Croatia.

Joseph Nsubuga,Uganda; Jane

Fraser; and YukiHara, Japan.

Ruth Ezrati, Israel; and Isabella Reichel,U.S.A.

At Dublin Castle opening reception, JoeFulcher, U.S.A.; Beatriz deTouzet, Ar-gentina; Peter Tonev, Bulgaria; Jane Fras-er, U.S.A.; and Ma Carme Junca, andMarina Llobera, Spain.

The 5th World Congress of the In-ternational Fluency Association

was held at Trinity College in Dublin,Ireland, July 25-28, 2006. It brought to-gether more than 300 people, many ofthem experts in the field of stuttering.

Participants came from 34 countriesaround the world and more than 15 per-cent of all participants had attendedthe Stuttering Foundation/Northwest-ern/Iowa Workshop for Specialists!This group met for several photos inhonor of Dr. Hugo Gregory who direct-ed the Northwestern Workshop for 16 years. ❑

JoAnne Wilding, Canada; Peter Tonev, Bul-garia; Beatriz de Touzet, Argentina; Lisa Av-ery, Canada; Merethe Moerk, Norway; SteenFibiger, Denmark; Jane Fraser, U.S.A.; Yu-lia Filatova, Russia; Anne-Marie Simon,France; David Shapiro, U.S.A. Florence-Juillerat, Switzerland.

�Claudia Furquim deAndrade, Brazil; andSuzana Jelcic Jaksic,Croatia.

Dublin conference brings researchers together

SFA founder MalcolmFraser’s granddaugh-ter Celia Gruss, France,and Yulia Filatova, Rus-sia, at Dublin Castle.

Workshop specialistsmeet again in Dublin

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Quality journalism honoredFor the 15th year, the Stuttering

Foundation recognizes excellence innews reporting.

The 2006 Media Awards go to fivedistinguished journalists.

Each winning entry successfullyenhanced public understanding ofthis complex speech disorder duringthe past year.

“Journalists in a variety of mediahave done an outstanding job offocusing on the causes and treat-ment of stuttering over the pastyear,” said Jane Fraser, president ofthe 59-year-old nonprofit founda-tion. “We were particularly pleased

this year to see in-creased focus onstuttering in theworkplace, an areathat’s previouslynot received muchattention.”

T. Grant Fitchof the Post-Tri-bune, Merrillville,Ind., received first

place in the daily newspaper cate-gory for “Saving stutterers.” Thearticle provided readers with time-ly information that parents can useto help their children overcomestuttering, includ-ing taking advan-tage of resourcesoffered by their lo-cal schools.

Dorothy P.D o u g h e r t y ,Archives of Pedi-atrics & Adoles-cent Medicineearned first placefor magazine articles. Dougherty’s

article gave read-ers the tools theyneed to identifystuttering in youngchildren and offersuseful advice onhow to improvefluency.

Mildred L. Culptook first place for

her nationally syndicated columnWorkwise. In her inspirational col-umn, Dr. Culp explained how peo-ple who stutter canmake i t in theworkplace.

Joyce LainKennedy earnedsecond place. Hernationally syndi-cated column Ca-reers Now helpeda reader who stut-ters prepare for a job interview.

In the te levis ion category,Janelle Wolfe of Comcast Tonight,Reading, Pa., re-ceived first placefor a lively seg-ment featur ingspeech-languagepathologist JosephDonaher of Chil-dren’s Hospital ofPhiladelphia andthe DVD Stutter-ing: For Kids, By Kids. Donaherand Wolfe shared timely resourcesfor children who stutter.

The awards were announced dur-ing Stuttering Awareness Week,May 8-14. 20/20’s co-anchor JohnStossel led this year’s awarenesscampaign. ❑

Fitch

Dougherty

Culp

Kennedy

Wolfe

Childhood stuttering part of

U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolfof Virginia read the article aboutTiger Woodsfrom the summernewsletter andsubmitted re-marks to theCongressionalRecord to drawattention toc h i l d h o o dstuttering.

On June 20,the congress-man said, “MrSpeaker, I rise to-day to bring the at-tent ion of theHouse to an article I recently readabout Tiger Woods in the Stutter-ing Foundation’s summer newslet-ter. I stuttered as a child and I thinkit’s important for kids to know thatthey can overcome this complexdisorder. Tiger Woods is an excel-lent example of the many peoplewho have led successful lives de-spite struggling with stuttering asa child. ❑

Wolf

Diana de Grunwald, Willie Botterill andFrances Cook of the Michael Palin Cen-tre for Stammering Children with JaneFraser of the Stuttering Foundation.

his role in A Fish Called Wanda, inwhich he portrayed a charactercalled Ken who stuttered. He basedthe role on his own father who suf-fered from stuttering all his life.Palin is best known for his comicroles as part of the Monty Pythoncomedy group. ❑

Transatlantic Continued from front page

Speaking wasn’t always easy for DamonNew York Daily News writer Antho-

ny McCarron inspired people of all ageswith a July article that told of Yankeesoutfielder Johnny Damon and stuttering.

“...speaking didn’t used to be soeasy for Damon. For several years asa child, he stuttered so badly he wasafraid to introduce himself. Some-times, there was cruel teasing fromother kids,” McCarron wrote.

“My mind was going a thousandmiles an hour and my mouth wouldsay whatever came to it. I slowed down,took my time, connected my words

and got better,” recalled Damon, whostarted speech therapy in second grade.

A link to the complete article is atwww.stutteringhelp.org. ❑

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

Help for back-to-school season

not speaking. One surprising findingwas that when adults who stutter arereading, their brains are processingsome aspects of language very differ-ently compared to control partici-pants who do not stutter.

What we are doing now — Weall know that stuttering starts in veryyoung children. Over the past fiveyears, we have been developingways to gather the same physiolog-ical measures from young children.By adapting our methods and mak-ing them kid friendly, we have beenable to test children as young asfour. In the current phase of the Pur-due Stuttering Project, we are bring-ing in a group of 50 children whostutter ages 4-5 years. We plan to testthese children and a matched groupof non-stuttering children over afive-year period (please note thatthe NIH, because of budget re-straints, only gave us 3 years offunding , and we hope to get them to

support the later years!). We know from earlier research

that approximately half of the chil-dren who are stuttering at 4-5years, will persist and have achronic stuttering problem, whileapproximately half of these chil-dren will recover. By using newexperimental windows on howyoung brains are developingspeech, we hope to develop meth-ods by which we can predict whichchildren are likely to have a chron-ic stuttering problem. In additionwe will attempt to determine thefactors that play a critical role inthe development of chronic stut-tering so that better therapies foryoung children will be available.

Thanks to the National Institute on Deaf-ness and Other Communicative Disordersand to the Malcolm Fraser Foundation fortheir support of the Purdue Stuttering Pro-ject, which is co-directed by Anne Smith,Ph.D., and Christine Weber-Fox, Ph.D. Ithas been exploring new frontiers in thephysiology of stuttering since 1989. ❑

Windows Continued from page 2

In October individuals interested instuttering, professional therapists aswell as clients and theirsupport persons, willdiscuss this much mis-understood speech dis-order in one of thelargest professional con-ferences of the year. Butnot face-to-face — thisconference is freely-available on the Internet.

The ninth annual International Stut-tering Online Conference runs fromOctober 1-22 at the Stuttering HomePage, www.stutteringhomepage.com.

Conference presentations are postedfor reading on the web site. Presenta-tions are designed for a general audi-ence, and feedback and discussion is in-vited through an Internet bulletin board.

Past conferences have drawn par-ticipation from more than 130 differ-ent countries around the world. ❑

Web conference toexplore stuttering

With school back in session, the Stut-tering Foundation offers materials thatare helpful for teachers and students.

Stuttering: For Kids, By Kids is a12-minute DVD that features an an-imated basketball speaking with chil-dren of various agesabout their stuttering.

B r o o k l y n - b a s e dspeech pathologist PeterReitzes, M.A., lets hisstudents bring friends toview the video with. Heprovides doughnuts andmilk for the “party.”

During and after thevideo, Reitzes keeps anopen discussion with students of top-ics discussed on the video such as“what is stuttering?,” “does stutteringbother you?,” “is stuttering a big dealfor you?,” “teasing,” “talking open-ly about stuttering,” and “advice forchildren who go to speech therapy.”

After watching the video, he askseach student to write down two thingsthey liked or learned from the film.He then collects the responses andreads them aloud.

Stuttering: Straight Talk for Teach-ers is another popular DVD that hasreceived nationwide attention.

Recently, it was featured in Teach-ing Pre K-8, on several Web sites andin a number of other publications.

Complete with handbook, thisDVD helps answer common ques-tions educators may have when teach-

ing a child who stutters.“By presenting a

range of perspectives,Stuttering: Straight Talkfor Teachers can build ashared dialog and a strongeducational partnershipthat includes the thera-pist, teachers, parents andstudent,” writes reviewerMaryAnn Byrnes, Ed.D.,

University of Massachusetts, Boston.She adds she’ll be recommending it toher colleagues in schools.

Both videos can be ordered in VHSand DVD. They are also available asfree streaming video at www.stut-teringhelp.org.

Notes to the Teacher brochure isanother great resource. It answersquestions educators may have andincludes 9 Tips for Talking With theChild Who Stutters.

Visit www.stutteringhelp.org to seethese products or call toll-free 800-992-9392. ❑

World-renowned wildlife conserva-tionist Alan Rabinowitz has been lead-ing the fight tosave tigers inthe remoteHukaung Val-ley in northern-most Mynmar.

Now, youcan listen to allof the detailsof Alan’s fascinating journey on apodcast at www.audible.com/tiger-man. There is also a link directly to hispodcast at www.stutteringhelp.org.

Rabinowitz has previously saidstruggling with stuttering helpedshape his life.

A DVD of an inspirational keynoteaddress by Rabinowitz is also avail-able from the Foundation. ❑

Rabinowitz’s podcast

Vyatcheslav V. Lep-tyukhov, author of theWeb site www.stut-tering.ru, is translat-ing Stuttering:Straight Talk forTeachers handbookinto Russian. ❑

Translation for Russian teachers

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In June, Children’s Hospital ofPhiladelphia (CHOP), Florida StateUniversity, and the Stuttering Foun-dation co-sponsored the first Mid-Atlantic Workshop in Philadelphia.

Twenty-one speech-languagepathologists from California, Illi-nois, Kentucky, Maryland, Okla-homa, New Jersey, New York, Penn-sylvania, South Dakota, Virginia,Canada, and South Africa met June21-25 on the CHOP campus to learnhow to assess and treat preschool-ers, school-age children, and adoles-cents who stutter.

The workshop was led by co-instruc-tors Joe Donaher, Children’s Hospitalof Philadelphia; Kristin Chmela, privatepractice, Long Grove, Ill.; and LisaScott, Florida State University.

The goals of the workshop wereto increase participants’ skills andconfidence in communicating ef-fectively with children, diagnosethe extent and severity of the disor-der, develop appropriate treatmentplans, design meaningful therapyactivities, and learn to model bothfluency shaping and stuttering mod-ification tools.

Emphasis was placed on creatingrelationships with children, families,and teachers that would facilitate thegreatest success for children who areworking to improve their communi-cation skills. Learning opportunitiesincluded traditional lectures, guidedcase planning, daily small-grouppractice of the various clinical and re-lationship skills, and watching video-tapes of therapy sessions.

The participants and instructors allagreed that the workshop was a greatsuccess. “We were so thrilled to haveso many clinicians from a variety ofwork settings devote a week of theirsummer to learning more about stut-tering,” said Kristin Chmela.

Joe Donaher was especially en-thused about hosting so many indi-viduals interested in helping childrenwho stutter, saying that “The dedica-tion of these SLPs to helping kids isinspirational. Many children will ben-efit from the talents and interest ofthese individuals.”

Feedback from workshop partic-ipants was outstanding, and includ-ed comments such as “I really thinkthis week will stand out as perhapsthe most significant continuing ed-

ucation experience of my profes-sional career. Thank you for makingit possible!”

James Mancinelli of La Salle Uni-versity said, “My experience at the2006 Mid-Atlantic Workshop wasenriching, engrossing, enlightening,and certainly enticed me to learnmore about stuttering and ways tobetter serve people who stutter.”

Additional five-day workshops arebeing planned for Summer 2007, as wellas the two-week Workshop for Special-

ists held at the University of Iowa. For applications or more informa-

tion, contact the Stuttering Founda-tion at 1-800-992-9392, downloadapplications on the web at www.stut-teringhelp.org, or email info@stutter-inghelp.org. ❑

Workshop ‘enriching, engrossing, enlightening’

Front row (seated): Lisa Scott, Kristin Chmela, Jane Fraser, Joe Donaher; Second row:Kate Eichstadt, Brett Kluetz, Anne Marie Wagener, Astrid Cordero, Lonnie Harris, Rox-anne Fleck, Joanne Summer, Terri Hessler, Jennifer Kleinow, Jim Mancinelli, Diedre Den-nis, Lori-Ann Acenas Mauricio, Carol Ellis, Kris Kelley, Lori Graca Griffin; Back row:Kris Baines, Stacey Simpson, Dina Lilian, Steffi Schopick, Carolyn Belle, and Maya Brown.

Participants watch a video of a therapysession.

A time to talk about caseloads and networkis part of the conference.

Dr. JudyGravel andJoe Donaherof the Children’sHospital ofPhiladelphia.

Maya Brown,Nova Scotia,Canada, andLonnie Har-ris, Kentucky.

Jennifer Kleinow, LaSalle University; KrisBaines, California; and Brett Kluetz, Balti-more, share ideas.

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

Poem on stutteringDear SFA,

Hi my name is Alicia and I’m 13years old. I’ve been stuttering since Iwas 5 years old. I’m from VirginiaBeach, Va. Here is a poem I wrote:

The Stuttering WaysBy Alicia

Coming home, covered in tearsLife swept away by fearCan’t even say my name

To worried about playing gamesYou’re always put on the spot

Pretending to be someone you’re notAvoiding words that you can’t say

Is getting worse day by dayWhat is happening to my brain?

It causes so much painTrying to give a class presentation

Just ruins your reputationTrying to do something new

Is hard while kids are teasing youAlways fluent when singing

Never while minglingNever press hardly

Always try to touch lightlySpeech is like a river flowing

Until a rock falls in and keeps itfrom going

I’ll never be a lawyer or vetI’ll deserve more than what I’ll getWhy did this have to happen to me?Can’t you see that it isn’t easy being

like me?Take a walk in my shoes for a dayWould you want to live my way?

Greetings from overseas

Dear SFA:I would like to thank you for all the

materials I have received in good or-der. I have added them to our library sothat every member of Parole d’Espoircan use them. I am also glad to in-clude a photo of our group which wastaken during Friends and Family Day.Jim CaroopenMauritius

Fan of James Earl JonesDear SFA,

I really like your newsletter andbrochures that youhave about stuttering.The brochure thattells different factsabout stuttering isgreat. I did not knowthat so many peoplestuttered. James EarlJones is my favorite.DamariusGreenville, Miss.

Wonderful Web siteDear SFA,

I want to thank you for creating awonderful Web site that helps peoplewith their stuttering. I have been stut-tering ever since kindergarten andnow I am in high school.

I’ve had great speech teachers. Ihad hard-talking stuttering from age4 to age 10. Now my speech is clear-ing up slowly.

It really hurts me that I can’t talklike other students.

I just want to say I do not feel badabout stuttering.Jonathan, 14Greenville, Miss.

Mission to Togo

I went to Togo on behalf of the ISAto give conferences on stuttering andtrain students of the first generation ofspeech therapists in West and CentralAfrica. I am happy to announce theTogolese Stutterers’ Association wascreated in June ‘06 in Lomé.Anne Marie SimonParis

Editor’s note: Anne Marie attended the SFA/NUWorkshop for Specialists in 1988 and carries thetorch worldwide.

Send letters to SFA, P.O. Box 11749, Memphis, TN 38111-0749 or email info@stutteringhelp.org.

Dear SFA: Reader Response

A picture’s worth... The artwork at the left is by Bryce, 8,Amagansett, N.Y., who wrote, “WhenI talk, a really mean monster sneaks upon me and shoves a rock in my throat.Everything gets tight and I can’t talk.Tne more rocks begin coming up. Isometimes get scared and want to runaway. My speech teacher has taught meways to help when this happens. I takea deep breath and stretch out the begin-nings of my words and sentences andthen I spit up the rocks! Then I feelmuch better and I can talk again. I alsotry not to speak too fast when I getmad or excited. If you try really hard,you can get the monster and stutteringto go away too.

Above: Gage, 10, writes, “My stutteris a car driving on a bumpy road.”

Do you have artwork to share? Youcan e-mail it to info@stutteringhelp.org.

Friends and Family Day in Mauritius.

James EarlJones

8288 9/11/06 9:59 AM Page 6

Eva Woolwine, who ran for MissKansas this summer, is taking timeoff from pageantsto focus on college,and stutteringawareness.

Woolwine, whoalso performs mag-ic tricks, says she’sbeen very busy.

“This summer Ihave received more

requests and invitations to speak andperform,” she said.

“I have been going everywhere:civic groups, senior citizen groups,classrooms, Retired Teachers Asso-ciation of Kansas. I have many morecoming up in the fall.”

Woolwine has served as juniorspokesperson for the SFA and partic-ipated in last year’s National Associ-ation of Young People Who Stutter:Friends Convention. ❑

FFAALLLL 22000066 71-800-992-9392

While Bill Withers has long beenon the SFA list of “Famous PeopleWho Stutter,” many people proba-bly didn’t realize he stuttered.

The April/May 2006 issue of themagazine Waxpoet-ics sheds some lighton the brilliant careerof the famed singerand songwriter.

Born in 1938 inSlab Fork, W.V.,Withers was theyoungest of six chil-dren. When his fatherdied when Withers was small, he wasraised by his mother and grandmother,both of whom worked as domestics.

Not motivated in school and strug-gling with stuttering, Withersdropped out after ninth grade, later tojoin the Navy. It was in the Navythat for the first time he was able re-ceive adequate speech therapy.

The article in Waxpoetics lists,“...his chronic stutter as one of thepossible reasons he stayed in the ser-vice for so long, because he used thetime to become comfortable withspeech and gain self-confidence.”

After his hitch in the Navy, With-ers worked in jobs ranging from air-craft repairman to milkman. Finallyin 1967, at age 29, he decided to pur-sue his interest in music.

The famed Booker T. Jones pro-duced his first album, Just As I Am,which was recorded with the MG’sas the backing band along withStephen Stills. Ironically, the lead sin-gle Harlem failed to chart, but its B-side, Ain’t No Sunshine went gold.The song also catapulted Withers tostardom in the music world, as he wonhis first Grammy as a songwriter.

Withers follow-up album Still Billyielded hits such as Use Me, Kissing

My Love and Who Is He (And Who IsHe to You). However, it is the classicsong Lean On Me, which is most re-membered, topping the Billboard Hot100 charts for three weeks in July 1972in addition to topping the R & B charts.

Between 1972 and 1979, Withersput out five albums. In 1981, heteamed up with saxophonist GroverWashington Jr., both writing and per-forming lead vocals on Washington’shit Just the Two of Us, which spentthree weeks at number two.

Just the Two of Us garnered himfour Grammy nominations that year.

In 1987, Withers received his ninthGrammy nomination and won his thirdGrammy award on account of ClubNouveau covering Lean On Me andtaking it to number one on the Bill-board charts. It marked the fifth timein the rock era that a song had reachednumber one by two different artists.

In this case, it was the first time thatboth artists who recorded the songwere African-American. Withers’songs have been recorded over thelast 36 years by hundreds of artists,such as Barbra Stresiand, MichaelJackson, Aretha Franklin, Sting,Temptations, Paul McCartney, TomJones, Joe Cocker and Mick Jagger.

Some articles from past decadescredit the newfound fluency that With-ers received from his speech therapyin the Navy as giving him the confi-dence to pursue a career in music.

Unlike many other artists, Witherswas able to retain much of his song-writing and publishing rights. LeanOn Me alone is said to have turnedinto a multi-million dollar goldmineover the years with use in moviesand advertisements, as well as ex-tensive radio play.

He hopes to soon release his firstalbum of new material since 1985. ❑

Singer Withers overcame stuttering

Withers

Woolwine

Daniel Altman, 13, decided tomake stuttering awareness the focusof the community service project forhis upcoming bar mitzvah. His goalis to tell as many people as possiblein the Louisville, Ky., area that stut-tering is nothing to be ashamed of.

Daniel took his campaign toLouisville Mayor Jerry Abramson,who issued a proclamation declar-ing the Week of May 8 as StutteringAwareness Week in Louisville andSouthern Indiana.

The teenager also hung this year’sStuttering Awareness Week poster fea-turing 20/20’s John Stossel around town.

Daniel wants to place stutteringresource materials in every public li-brary in Louisville before his barmitzvah, which is on Nov. 4.

In order to further his efforts,Daniel wrote local TV and radio sta-tions asking them to publicize stutter-ing awareness week.

At least one local station, WAVE 3,featured Daniel and his efforts ontheir newscast and Web site.

Daniel knows firsthand how diffi-cult stuttering can be. But he told theNBC station he doesn’t try to hide itwhen others try to embarrass him.

“I just kind of lay it out — ‘I stut-ter and I don’t appreciate it that youmake fun of me. Please stop’.”

Daniel’s efforts are especially forother kids who are not yet braveenough to take a stand.

“It’s a sad thing, which is why Ineed to further educate people so thatpeople won’t have to cower insidecorners. People can feel more com-fortable about who they are,” he toldthe Louisville station.

In addition to the on-air segment,reporter Lori Lyle provided links toresources online. ❑

Daniel Altman is interviewed by WAVE 3TV News.

Teen speaks outabout stuttering

Woolwine takes her message on the road

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(Ratner, 1997) and the Cognitive Inter-ference Model (Bosshardt, 2002). Inves-tigators have focused their studies onfive distinct linguistic variables: (a)phonological aspects, (b) loci of stutter-ing, (c) language complexity, (d) prag-matics (child’s use of language), and (e)language skills. For example, researchconcerned with the first variable listedabove has provided evidence that stut-tering is increased as a function of lan-guage complexity (Logan & Conture,1995, Zackheim & Conture, 2003).

Regarding language as risk factor,perhaps most interesting to cliniciansand parents has been a relatively long-standing view that stuttering childrenare more likely than normally speakingpeers to have language learning diffi-culties or impairments (see reviews byAndrews, et al., 1983, and Ratner, 1997).Afew current articles continue to prop-agate this view (Arndt & Healey, 2001;Wingate, 2001). On the other hand, overthe past 15 years, extensive longitudinalstudies at the University of Illinois Stut-tering Research Program have revealedno delayed language development inyoung children who stutter. To the con-trary, we have found that near onset theyfall within normal range; in fact, oftenwell above normal (Watkins, Yairi &Ambrose, 1999). Recent research in oth-er laboratories in the U.S.A. and Eu-rope supports this finding (Anderson &Conture, 2000; Häge, 2001; Miles &Ratner, 2001), which seems to agreewith many parents’ reports that theirchild had a spurt of language develop-ment just prior to the onset of stuttering,speaking in longer sentences and usingnew words. (They often say that “hisbrain seemed to be working faster thanhis mouth” could manage.) Further-more, we have found that children whoeventually persist in stuttering tend to per-form above normative expectations at theearly stage of stuttering and maintainthat level over time. Children who even-tually recover, however, tend to performabove normal at the early stage of the dis-order but approach the norm as they re-cover (Watkins et al., 1999, Yairi & Am-brose, 2005). Strangely, then, high lan-guage skills rather than low ones mightbe a risk factor for stuttering, particular-ly for persistent, chronic stuttering. It isintriguing to theorize that the emergenceof stuttering involves some type of trade-off in linguistic resources (e.g., advancedlanguage at the expense of motoric flu-

ency) and that recovery from stutteringwould occur as these children reducetheir early accelerated rate of languagedevelopment. If our findings are valid,they will have important clinical impli-cations for parent counseling and thera-py programs.

To be sure, there is no consensus at thisjuncture concerning advanced languageskills as a risk factor in early childhoodstuttering. Recently, a few studies report-ed some results that differ from the Illi-nois findings. These studies, however,

raise questions concerning their methods.For example, Anderson and Conture(2000) noted that although all their par-ticipants had language abilities at or abovenormal limits, the stuttering children stilldemonstrated somewhat lower skills incertain areas than normally speakingpeers. Watkins and Johnson (2004), how-ever, pointed out that in many past stud-ies reporting lower language skills inchildren who stutter, the comparisongroups of normally speaking subjectswere selected in biased ways, often com-ing from appreciably higher social groupsknown to have richer language. In con-trast, the Illinois studies addressed thisproblem by comparing the performanceof the stuttering children to a much broad-er base of well-established normativedata. It is possible, however, that furtherresearch with preschool children usingmore sensitive tools will reveal discretelanguage differences between groups.Other examples of disagreement are seenin studies with school aged children whostutter reporting between 9 and 13% ofthe children to exhibit concomitant lan-guage difficulties (Blood, Ridenhour,Qualls, & Hammer, 2003). Keep in mindhowever, that by this age at least 75% ofthe original stuttering population had dis-appeared due to natural recovery. Theremaining (persistent) minority has beenreported to possess some different genet-ic components. All in all, at the present,language alone is insufficient for makingstrong early predictions of eventual per-

sistency or recovery.In summary, although we believe that

associations between stuttering and sev-eral linguistic variables do exist, so far noclear causal relations have been estab-lished, and there is no consensus on theirprecise role or contributions as risk fac-tors for the onset of stuttering and itspersistence, or their influence on naturalrecovery. This and several other aspectsof the stuttering-language connectioncontinue to be the subject of scientific dis-cussions and controversies (Nippold,2004; Wingate, 2001). Fortunately, it hasattracted very rich and varied research ac-tivities, the fruits of which should signif-icantly enhance our understanding andtreatment of stuttering.

REFERENCESAnderson, J., & Conture, E. (2000). Language abilities of

children who stutter: A preliminary study. Journal of Fluen-cy Disorders, 25, 283-304.

Andrews, G., Craig, A., Feyer, A., Hoddinott, S., Howie,P., & Neilson, M. (1983). Stuttering: A review of researchfindings and theories circa 1982. Journal of Speech and Hear-ing Disorders, 48, 226-246.

Arndt, J., & Healey, C. (2001). Concomitant disorders inschool-age children who stutter. Language, Speech and Hear-ing Services in Schools, 32, 68-78.

Blood, G., Ridenour, V. J., Qualls, C. D., & Hammer, C. S.(2003). Co-occurring disorders in children who stutter. Journalof Communication Disorders, 36, 427-448.

Bloodstein, O. (2002). Early stuttering as a type of lan-guage difficulty. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 27, 163-167.

Bosshardt, H. (2002). Effects of concurrent cognitive pro-cessing on the fluency of word repetition: Comparison betweenpersons who do and do not stutter. Journal of Fluency Dis-orders, 27, 93-114.

Brown, S. (1937). The influence of grammatical functionon the incidence of stuttering. Journal of Speech Disorders,3, 223-230.

Brown, S. (1945). The locus of stuttering in the speech se-quence. Journal of Speech Disorders, 10, 181-192.

Chevekeva, N. (1967). About methods of overcomingstuttering: A survey of the literature. Spetsial Shkola, 3, 9-15.

Häge, A. (2001). Können kognitive und linguistischeFähigkeiten zur Verlaufsprognose kindlichen Stotterns beitra-gen? (Cognitive and linguistic abilities in young children: Arethey able to predict the further development of stuttering?).Sprache Stimme Gehör, 25, 20-24.

Levina, R. (1966). Study and treatment of stammeringchildren. In A. D’yachov (Ed.), Specialized Schools, 120, (4).Moscow: Education Publishing House. (Translation publishedin Journal of Learning Disabilities (1968), 1, 26-29.)

Logan, K. & Conture, E. (1995). Relationships betweenlength,grammatical complexity, rate, and fluency of conversation-al utterances in children who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders,20, 35-61.

Miles, S., & Ratner, N. B. (2001). Parental language in-put to children at stuttering onset. Journal of Speech, Languageand Hearing Research, 44, 1116-1130

Nippold, M. (2004). Phonological and language disordersin children who stutter: Impact on treatment consid-erations. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 18(2), 145-159.

Ratner, N. (1997). Stuttering: A psycholinguistic perspec-tive. In R. F. Curlee and G. M. Siegel (Eds.) Nature and Treat-ment of Stuttering: New Directions. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Postma, A., & Kolk, H. (1993). The covert repair hypoth-esis: Prearticulatory repair in normal and stuttered disfluen-cies. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 36, 472-487.

Starkweather, W. (1987). Fluency and Stuttering. Engle-wood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Watkins, R. , & Johnson, B. (2004). Language abilities in youngchildren who stutter: Toward improved research and clinical ap-plications. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools.

Watkins, R., Yairi, E., & Ambrose, N. (1999). Earlychildhood stuttering III: Initial status of expressive languageabilities. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Re-search, 42, 1125-1135.

Wingate, M. (2001). SLD is not stuttering. Journal ofSpeech, Language, and Hearing Research, 44, 381-383.

Yairi, E. (1983). The onset of stuttering in two- and three-year-old children: A preliminary report. Journal of Speech andHearing Disorders, 48, 171-177.

Yairi, E. & Ambrose, N. (2005). Early Childhood Stut-tering. Austin: Pro Ed.

Zackheim, C. & Conture, E. (2003). Childhood stutteringand speech disfluencies in relation to children's mean lengthof utterance: A preliminary study. Journal of Fluency Disor-ders, 28, 115-142. ❑

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

“... high language skills rather than low ones might be a risk factor for stuttering, particularly for

persistent, chronic stuttering. ”

Ehud Continued from front page

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FFAALLLL 22000066 91-800-992-9392

The Marriott Conference Centerin Lisle, Ill., was the setting for theStuttering Foundation’s annual con-ference for school clinicians, Stut-tering Therapy: Practical Ideas forthe School Clinician.

Eighty-five people attended thisconference representing 13 states anda variety of employment settings, in-cluding schools, university clinics,and private practice.

Participants heard presentationsfrom Tricia Zebrowski, CharlieHealey, Peter Ramig, Bill Murphy,Lisa Scott, and Kristin Chmela ontopics such as current research inchildhood stuttering, practical strate-gies for therapy, functional methodsfor measuring progress, counselingchildren and their families aboutstuttering, treating children with con-comitant communication disorders,and dealing effectively with guiltand shame.

New this year, guided practice ses-sions were held in the main sessionroom with guided practice leadersseated at each table. This created anintimate and personalized learningenvironment that made discussionand practice easy. Small group guid-ed practice leaders included SusanCochrane, Kevin Eldridge, SusanHamilton, Elise Kaufman, MaryMantilla, Ann McKeehan, and Jen-nifer Watson.

Presenters profiled children whostutter through the use of video seg-ments and examples of child re-sponses. The audience respondedenthusiastically to these strategieswhich facilitated greater understand-ing. Many clinicians were happy tohave the opportunity to see tech-niques and ideas being demonstrat-ed as well as to ask questions ofleading experts in stuttering.

The unique combination of pre-sentations balanced with small groupguided practice make this confer-ence one of the premier continuingeducation opportunities available toschool-based speech pathologists.Evaluations by attendees were con-sistently positive: “This conferencewas a huge energizer for me. Proba-bly the best I’ve ever been to,” “Thisconference was one of the most infor-mational and inspirational ones I’vebeen to,” “The hands-on discussiongroups were wonderful and were sohelpful in being able to share andlearn from others.”

Another attendee remarked, “Thisconference has changed my perspec-tive of my own abilities to help chil-dren and adults who stutter.” ❑

School clinician conference gets high marks

Conference leaders: Mary Mantilla, Ann McKeehan, Bill Murphy, Susan Hamilton, Jen-nifer Watson, Charles Healey, Kristin Chmela, Susan Cochrane, Carolyn Gregory,Kevin Eldridge, Elise Kaufman, Peter Ramig, and Lisa Scott.

Time was set aside during the conference forattendees to share stories.

New format makes it easier to exchange ideasduring guided practice sessions.

Several 2006 conference leaders. Seated:Jennifer Watson and Carolyn Gregory. Backrow: Ann McKeehan, Susan M. Cochrane,Patricia Zebrowski, Jane Fraser, and EliseS. Kaufman.

For the first time ever, the SFAis in-cluded in the Russian Journal of Spe-cial Education.

The article, by Yulia Filatova, tellsthe history of the Foundation, describesthe workshops for specialists in stutter-ing, and outlines the SFA’s outreaches.

The article includes a picture of theFoundation’s first conference in 1957

and a more recentphoto from the Iowaworkshop.

Filatova, who re-sides in Moscow,also wrote a bookabout cluttering thatwill be publishedin the fall.

Exciting news out of RussiaFor Combined Federal Campaigndonors, please note that our code

number for the 2006–2007 CFC campaign isCFC #2539.

We are proud that over 95 cents of every dollar goes directly into

helping those who stutter.

8288 9/11/06 9:59 AM Page 9

�Stuttering: An Integrated Approach to Its Nature and

Treatment, Third Edition by Barry Guitar. 2006. Available

from Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 800-638-3030,

www.LWW.com

�Stuttering Recovery Personal and Empirical Perspectives

by Dale F. Williams. 2006. Available from Lawrence Erl-

baum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, www.erlbaum.com

�Speech Therapy for the Severe Older Adolescent and

Adult Stutterer: A Program for Change by George Helliesen.

2006. Available from Apollo Press, Newport News, VA,

800-683-9713, www.apollopress.com.

�The Child and Adolescent Stuttering Treatment and Ac-

tivity Resource Guide by Peter Ramig and Darrell Dodge.

2005. Available from Thomson Delmar Learning, Clifton

Park, NY.

�Early Childhood Stuttering: For Clinicians by Clini-

cians by Ehud Yairi and Nicoline Grinager Ambrose.

2005. Available from ProEd, Austin, TX and amazon.com.

�Begaiement: Intervention preventive precoce chez le je-

une enfant by Anne Marie Simon et al. 2005. Available from

the Association Parole Begaiement, www.begaiement.org

�Teach Me How To Say It Right, Helping Your Child With

Articulation Problems by Dorothy P. Dougherty, M.A.

2005. Published by New Harbinger's Publications, Oakland,

CA. Available at www.newharbinger.com.

�Troy’s Amazing Universe, by S. Kennedy Tosten. 2002.

Published by Brite Press. Order from www.TroysAmazingU-

niverse.com or amazon.com. A story about a seven year old

who stutters.

�The Strong Silent Type, by C. Kelly Robinson. A grip-

ping novel about a young NFL star coming to grips with

his stuttering. Available from New American Library, New

York, and www.amazon.com.

�Experiencias para compatir entre padres e hijos by Ka-

rina Couselo Rios, Maria Marta Gebara and Mariela

Ginhson. Order from equipfono_gcg@yahoo.com.

�Stuttering Therapy: Rationale and Procedures by Hugo

H. Gregory, June H. Campbell, Diane G. Hill, and Carolyn

B. Gregory. Available from Allyn and Bacon, Boston,

MA; www.ablongman.com. 2003.

�Les begaiements: Histoire, psychologie, evaluation, va-

rietes, traitements by Anne Van Hout and Francoise Esti-

enne. Published by Masson, S.A., 120 boulevard Saint

Germain, 75280 Paris Cedex 06, France.

�Forty Years After Therapy: One Man’s Story by George

Helliesen, M.A. Available from Apollo Press, Inc., 1-800-

683-9713 or www.apollopress.com.

�Understanding Stuttering by Nathan Lavid. 2003. Uni-

versity Press of Mississippi, Jackson, MS. Order from

bookstores or amazon.com.

�Programmed Stuttering Therapy for Children and Adults

by Bruce Ryan, Ph.D. Available through publisher Charles

C. Thomas or online at www.amazon.com

�Making a Difference for America’ Children: SLPs in the

Public Schools by Barbara Moore-Brown and Judy Mont-

gomery. Available from Thinking Publications, Eau Claire,

WI. 715-832-2488.

�Ben Has Something To Say by Laurie Lears, illustrations

by Karen Ritz. A book for children ages 5-9. Albert Whit-

man & Co., Morton Grove, IL. 800-255-7675.

�Sharing the Journey: Lessons from my Students and

Clients with Tangled Tongues by Lon Emerick, Ph.D.,

available from North Country Publishing, 355 Heidtman

Road, Skandia, MI 49885, for $13.95 plus $2. postage and

handling, call toll-free 1-866-942-7898; or from the Stut-

tering Foundation at 800-992-9392. ❑

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

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

11--880000--999922--99339922 ● 11--880000--996677--77770000

www.stutteringhelp.org www.tartamudez.orginfo@stutteringhelp.org

THE

STUTTERINGFOUNDATION

�The Stuttering Foundation Five Day EasternWorkshop, Diagnosis and Treatment of Chil-dren and Adolescents Who Stutter: PracticalStrategies, will be held at Boston University,June 20-24, 2007. Workshop leaders are DianeParris, M.A., Sheryl Gottwald, Ph.D., and Adri-ana DiGrande, M.A. with guest speaker EdwardG. Conture, Ph.D. The Stuttering Foundationpays all tuition costs as well as room and boardfor this exceptional in-depth workshop.�The Stuttering Foundation Five Day West-ern Workshop, Diagnosis and Treatment ofChildren and Adolescents Who Stutter: Prac-tical Strategies, will be held at Portland StateUniversity in Portland, Oregon, June 20-24,2007. Workshop leaders are Susan Hamilton,M.A., Jennifer Watson, Ph.D., and EllenReuler, M.A. The Stuttering Foundation pays

all tuition costs as well as room and board for this ex-ceptional in-depth workshop.�The Stuttering Foundation two-week Workshop forSpecialists will be held at the University of Iowa, IowaCity, Iowa, June 17-29, 2007, directed by Patricia Ze-browski, Ph.D. and Toni Cilek, M.A. Guest speakers in-clude Lisa Scott, Ph.D., and others to be announced. Thisunique workshop brings together speech-language pathol-ogists from all over the world for its 18th year. As in thefive-day workshops, the Stuttering Foundation pays alltuition costs and room and board for the two weeks.�The 2006 National British Stammering Associa-tion (BSA) Conference will be held at the Telfordcampus of the University of Wolverhampton, England,Sept. 15-17, 2006. �The Annual Convention of Friends will be held in lateJune or early July 2007 in St. Louis. For information andregistration, visit www.friendswhostutter.org or call866-866-8335.�First World Conference on Cluttering: “It’s abouttime” will be May 12-14, 2007, in Razlog, Bulgaria.�The International Stuttering Association willhold the 8th Congress for People Who StutterMay 6-10, 2007, in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Visitwww.isa.org.�Dave Germeyer offers a repair service for the Ed-inburgh Masker. Contact him via e-mail at dgerm-eye@earthlink.net, write G.D. Germeyer, 306 S.Baltimore St., Dillsburg, PA 17019-1011, or call(717) 432-3103.�LISTSERV for doctoral students specializing in stut-tering. The intent of this list is to serve as an open fo-rum for doctoral students. Membership is limited todoctoral students only. To subscribe, send the follow-ing message to listserv@listserv.temple.edu: “subscribestutterdoc firstname lastname” or contact Joe Donaherat turtlecraw@aol.com.�For those interested in joining Toastmasters Inter-national as a way to improve fluency, communicationor public speaking skills, their address is: Toastmas-ters International, Inc., Attention: Membership De-partment, P.O. Box 9052, Mission Viejo, CA 92690,Telephone: (714) 858-8255; Fax: (714) 858-1207.

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S Books on Stuttering or Related Topics Available from Bookstores:

�

A Nonprofit OrganizationSince 1947 — Helping Those Who Stutter

The Stuttering Foundation of America is a tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) ofthe Internal Revenue Code and is classified asa private operating foundation as defined insection 4942(j)(3). Charitable contributions andbequests to the Foundation are tax-deductible, subject to limitations under the Code.

Our thanks to the University ofCincinnati and Nova SoutheasternUniversity chapters of the NationalStudent Speech-Lan-guage-Hearing Asso-ciation for their recentgifts to the SFA.

The generous giftfrom the studentchapter at the Univer-sity of Cincinnati willhelp children who stutter.

A student at Nova contributed $300in honor of her fellow students.

“I hope this will encourage othersto do the same,” she wrote. “TheStuttering Foundation is certainly acause that NSSLHA students cansupport and know that their gift ismaking a difference.” ❑

donations

Indevus Pharmaceuticals an-nounced the resultsof a Phase II trialfor pagoclone instuttering and thedata were quite promising.

Indevus said it was very encour-aged by the results of the trial on anumber of levels. Very importantly,the safety profile of pagoclone wasexcellent, as it has been in previoustrials, the drug company reported.

Indevus will be meeting with FDAto define the pathway for further devel-opment of pagoclone for stuttering.Stay tuned at www.stutteringhelp.orgfor more information. ❑

Drug results promising

You can make a one-time donation orset up monthly and quarterly recurring

gifts by clicking on the Dona-tion tab or Make A Gift atwww.stutteringhelp.org.

You can donate with a credit card oryour checking account. ❑

You can give online

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