Stuttering workshop marks 35th year

by SISTER CHARLEEN BLOOM, CSJ

Confucius declared that "a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step" - a truth that still inspires. In March 1971, Grace O'Connor, a reporter from the Times Union, interviewed me about the cause of stuttering and wrote an article explaining that there is hope for people who stutter.

She ended by inviting people who stutter to attend a meeting at The College of Saint Rose in Albany. Seventeen people responded to our call. That became the first meeting of the local Council of Fluency.

In September 1973, Ms. Connor wrote again on our new Weekend Workshop for People who Stutter. I was joined in my interview by three people who stuttered. Each of them shared the growth they had experienced when they faced their stuttering and felt the freedom to say whatever they wanted to, instead of keeping silent.

One thousand miles later - and 1,000 people who stutter, 1,000 graduate students, 1,000 parents and professionals later - we are celebrating the Council of Fluency's 39th year and the Weekend Workshop's 35th anniversary.

We have become a council for children, teens and adults who stutter. We include a group for parents. We train graduate students to specialize in helping people who stutter. Clinicians from around the world have attended our workshops to incorporate our synergistic therapy techniques into their practice. We have called this our "flight to freedom."

As professionals, we have learned during these four decades that there is no one single cause of stuttering. Stutter-ing is complex and multi-dimensional.

We must treat the physical, the psychological and work within the everyday environment of the person who stutters - as described in the book I co-wrote with Donna Cooperman, "Synergistic Stuttering Therapy: A Holistic Approach."

People who stutter can change their speech and minimize their feelings of fear and guilt. We know that people who stutter can become effective communicators. We believe that group support is a necessary component. We have seen that the journey of partnership, empowerment and treatment is helped by the interaction of council members, students and professionals.

What do our clients tell us?

* "What we can't do alone, we can do together."

* "Stuttering only defeats us when it silences us."

* "By coming to Council, I found my voice. Children do it at 10 months. I did it at Council."

* "Council has become my church. It has brought me life."

* "I just wish that my deceased parents could see what I have done. They wouldn't believe it."

We would like to invite any child, teen or adult who stutters to attend our 35th Weekend Workshop for People Who Stutter, March 19-21 at The College of Saint Rose. The theme will be, "History is 35; Synergistic still alive."

It is not too late to register. One of our Council members writes: "We know how hard it is to simply face the fact that you are a person who stutters. All of us too-clearly remember how nervous and embarrassed we were when we came to our first meeting. Yet, we also remember how relieved we were when we found out things about stuttering that we were always too ashamed to ask about. We can't promise you a quick cure, but we can promise you understanding, practical help, a program that works and many pairs of only-too-glad-to-listen ears."

If you or a loved one stutters, please join our Flight to Freedom.

(Sister Charleen, Ph.D., is a professor at The College of Saint Rose, a fellow of the American Speech Language Hearing Association and a board-recognized fluency specialist.)

For information on the weekend workshop, contact Sister Charleen Bloom at 454-5122 or [email protected]; also, see the calendar on page 19.

(03/18/10)