BOOK: Stutter WITH EASE

As a professor of child and adolescent development,  I follow empirical evidence: health, learning and wellness, is an inter-disciplinary and inter-connected phenomenon.  I respect and uphold the developmental tenant that serving children requires that we first attune to their developmental stage, culture, and environment.  Any intervention pursued without considering these factors is likely not going to supportive.

Living with a stutter is a multifaceted.  Living with a stutter is also a whole-body experience.  Unfortunately, tools that are provided for speech therapy are often focused on behavioral strategies that ignore the body's inability to change or shift when it is under stress.  Somatic and mindfulness practices allow us to develop self-awareness and self-regulation needed to better understand our relationship to the stutter.

As young children, whether we like it or not, our brain learns what is socially acceptable and what it is not.  For many stutters, the message that stuttering is wrong is confirmed constantly and is often reinforced by focusing therapy on "achieving fluency."  This hyperfocus on fluency increases stress and sometimes traumatizes children.

This book offers a robust argument and practical guidance related to better support those whom stutter.  Further, it offers specific and actionable research that can augment the literature as well as "connect the dots" on conflicting research.  The hope is that these suggestions will inspire changes to professional development and the systems and policies that govern speech interventions.