My father stuttered and taught me how to fly!!!

Today I had lunch with my dad. It was a nice lunch. My parents spend half the year in Florida now and it is always difficult for me. I miss them alot and have always valued meeting my dad for lunch. I hadn't met him alone in a long time. Today I remembered how much his encouragement helped me deal with my stuttering. I had always heard stories of my dad stuttering severely when he was younger. He always said that his mother took him for speech therapy but the SLPs worked on articulation (difficulties with certain sounds). He says he never had articulation problems and never stuttered in speech therapy. I remember him stuttering every once in a while, but he worked as a pharmacist and I worked with him for years. I rarely heard him stutter. He said when he first started working, he had a difficult time talking to doctors. We rarely talked about stuttering. I remember when I would become fearful of looking for a summer job or talking in school, my father would say to just go for it and not worry about it. Sometimes it worked, other times not as much. He was and is a good role model. He stuttered (and I say that because I haven't heard him stutter in years) and didn't let it stop him. He encouraged me and believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. So I say my father taught me how to fly and is one of the reasons I am able to help so many people who stutter!! You are my inspiration and I love you!!

What is Cluttering?

Cluttering is often confused with stuttering, but it is different. Cluttering is a speech and communication disorder. Listeners find cluttered speech difficult to understand. It is characterized by a rapid speaking rate, affected prosodic features, poor grammar, and disordered language patterns. It is considered a fluency disorder and characterized by an irregular. rapid speech rate. Help is available for this disorder. If you need additional information, please contact me.

Teens who Stutter

Hi-
I wanted to let everyone know about our next teen meeting (TWST) of the National Stuttering Association on Wed. July 15, 2009 at 7:30 pm in the Salzman Center at Hofstra University. Please e-mail me for more information Lori@allislandspeech.com or call 516-776-0184. This is a great place to meet others who stutter and/or practice your fluency tools.

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

What is REBT? It was created by Albert Ellis in the 50's and is a form of psychotherapy. I have read alot about it (www.rebnetwork.org) and I think it can be applied to stuttering treatment. The goal of REBT is to change irrational beliefs into rational ones. I can't really do it justice in this short blog, but an example would be when I wouldn't talk on the phone with anyone present in the room. Why? because my fear was that if I stuttered and someone heard it I would feel like a failure. If I was alone and I stuttered, no one would know and I didn't have to admit the obvious. I was always looking for other people's approval. This belief led to anxiety, shame, guilt and an inability to use the fluency tools I had. Interestingly, when I stopped looking for the approval of others, my confidence increased as did my fluency. There is also a great book called, The Road Less Traveled which I highly recommend. There is also a new DVD out by the Stuttering Foundation of America (www.stutteringhelp.org) called "Tools for Success" A Cognitive Behavior Therapy Taster".

Summer intensive or group therapy

Please contact me if you are interested in summer or group therapy. With practice and support, you can DEFINITELY improve fluency. It takes committment and dedication and changing attitudes. Contact Lori in Plainview, NY 516-776-0184

A Speech Pathologist who is a recovering person who stutters? Is it possible?

Not only is it possible, the field of stuttering was started by speech paths who stutter? I so wish when I was younger that I had a speech pathologist who stuttered. No one can understand how difficult it is to not say your own name, to be laughed out while ordering or relate to the fear of talking.

I never thought when I was younger I would be able to be so grateful to have a trait that has enabled me to help so many others. I am grateful that I can talk to children, teens and adults who stutter and say "I know exactly what you are feeling" and help ia available. I can model what I teach and show that it is successful. I can also show that every once in a while I stutter and the world won't all apart. My hat goes off to all the speech pathologists who stutter. I recommend listening to www.stuttertalk.com, which is lead by Peter Reitzes, a SLP who stutters and Eric Jackson, a grad student who stutters. It is a great inspiration.

I also recommend you follow my website as I will be putting before and after video clips of myself. It is worth listening to. I have overcome fear and severe stuttering.

The Nassau/Suffolk Long Island Stuttering Connection

Please help me connect people who stutter on Long Island. Please join NSLIStutteringConnection@yahoogroups.com. For those of you don't know, I am a speech pathologist who specializes in stuttering therapy for children and adults who stutter. I overcame a severe stuttering disorder myself. Any questions, please e-mail me at Lori@allislandspeech.com.

Intensive therapy offered this summer. Please inquire.

Pediatricians please refer early for children who stutter

I hope pediatricians and professionals realize the utmost importance of early interventon and preschool referring children who stutter to a SLP with expertise in stuttering. Although 80% of children reportedly outgrow stuttering on their own, there is no way for us to know which children will stop. Sometimes small changes in the child's environment are enough to facilitate fluency. Parent are often relieved after a visit to a stuttering specialist. There is a list of referrals of speech pathologists who specialize in stuttering on www.stutteringhelp.org, the website of the Stuttering Foundation of America. Some quick suggestions when talking to a child who stutters are:
1. Maintain eye contact
2. Listen to the message not how it is said
3. Refrain from saying relax
4. Refrain from saying slow down
5. Try and insert pauses in your own speech to model a slower rate of speech
6. Comment instead of asking direct questions (ex: I wonder what you did in school today etc)

Some warning signs are: a history of stuttering in the family, stuttering for greater than 3 months, signs of struggle, prolongation of sounds, and refer immediately if a child stops talking, show signs of awareness or a parent appears very worried. Again, we have no way of telling which children will stop on their own.

I use Lidcombe for preschool children but developed P.A.C.E to add a parent counseling component. Please contact me with any comments or questions.

Good book on stuttering 5th grade student

I want to recommend a good book about a 5th grade student who stutters called Jason's secret. It was written by Ellen Marie-Silverman.

SpeechEasy follow up provider

Just wanted to let everyone know I am a Janus SpeechEasy follow up provider and have been for about 2 years.
While I am not a direct provider, I am certainly available for follow up therapy and practice.

Does acceptance mean not striving for fluency enhancement?

Hi everyone-
I have come to realize that acceptance means different things to different people. To me,it means accepting that I might always stutter but practicing and never giving up my quest to improve. Why? because I like being as fluent as I can be. It is what I teach my clients (the more intensive the better-I will be offering more intensive courses so please inquire-for those of you who don't know I took the same course as John Stossel and Annie Glenn ). Also, an added tidbit-Annie Glenn went for years of speech therapy following her 3 week course in Virginia as did I. I follow a similar fluency shaping philosophy with a little attitude kicked in. I am hoping to be able to offer a group intensive in the future. I just need teens or adults who will commit. Anyway, I know others choose to stutter openly and accept in that way. My only concern is that the constant pushing of words out can be exhausting and with slight modifications this can be worked on. Thanks for reading and all questions or comments welcome. Have a good night! Also, thank you to all the parents, teens and grad students who attended our first annual TWST (Teens who stutter) support group meeting of the National Stuttering Association. We welcome all new members. It was a terrific group and I was honored to be a part of it. I want to also thank my co-leader Dr. Jason Davidow of Hofstra University and my adult co-leader Steven Kaufman for all their support and for reminding all of us that stuttering does not have to stop you from saying what you want!!!