Education and self help for people who stammer

Related Links

Useful sources of background information about stammering

STAMMA

The British Stammering Association

STAMMA is the main UK registered charity for people who stammer. It is a key source of information for stammerers, their parents, speech and language therapists, and teachers who work with children who stammer.

STAMMA also have their own Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/stammeringbsa

The Stuttering Foundation (SFA)

www.stutteringhelp.org

The SFA are based in the USA. They are the first and the largest non-profit charitable organization in the world working toward the prevention and improved treatment of stammering. The SFA provide a wide range of high quality written and video resources and information, both for children and adults who stammer, as well as for clinicians who specialise in stammering.

The Stuttering Homepage

www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/stutter.html

The stuttering Homepage is maintained by Minnesota State University in the USA. It is dedicated to providing information about stuttering and other fluency disorders for both consumers and professionals who work with people who stutter. It includes information about research, therapy, support organisations, resources for professors who teach fluency disorders courses, materials for kids who stammer, and much more.

In October each year the Stuttering Homepage also hosts the International Stuttering Awarness Day (ISAD) Online Conference.

The ISAD archive can be accessed here:

http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/isadarchive/onlineconference.html

The Wikipedia Article  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttering

This article is objective and well written and provides a concise assessment of what is currently known about the nature and causes of stammering. It also provides an outline of a range of approaches to therapy. A more detailed Wikipedia article that focuses entirely on therapy is can be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttering_therapy

Self-Help Manual of the Indian Stammering Association

By Dr Satyendra Srivastava

This well-written self-help manual proposes a self-paced, step-by-step approach to managing stuttering. It is closely aligned to Van Riper’s approach, and also teaches a range of helpful mindfulness-based practices.

The manual deals with 7 main themes:

· Understanding the Origin and Nature of stuttering;

· “Acceptance” and what it means and why it matters;

· Identifying what exactly you do when you stammer;

· Playing with your speech—learning more flexibility;

· Breathing, pausing, eye-contact and listening;

· Learning to watch your thoughts (mindfulness);

· The importance of values and beliefs.