Discussion Group: Advanced Conversations in Stammering

discussion group

Patrick and Sam invite you to a collaborative online discussion group to explore and debate a selection of recent blogs, podcasts and articles extending the way we think and talk about stammering. The group is open to anyone with an interest in stammering: people who stammer, speech and language therapists, researchers in stammering as well as those with other connections, for example, a parent of a child who stammers. We particularly want to welcome people who stammer into the group, as we believe when stammering is being talked about stammerers themselves need to be at the centre of the conversation. To this end, we aim to balance the group membership in terms of the number of people who stammer and people who do not.

The group will meet once a month on Tuesdays from 7.30pm – 9.00pm between January and June 2023. Each session will focus on a particular topic related to stammering supported by prior reading material/podcast to listen to and questions for reflection. Example topics include: stammering gain; the stammering aesthetic as explored through art by people who stammer; stammering and time; intersectionality and ableism.

We hope to empower participants to develop a richer and thicker understanding of what it means to stammer. For therapists, this may be beneficial when supporting people in therapy to better understand the wider narratives and new perspectives on stammering. For people who stammer, the discussions may help to develop ways to self-advocate and resist fluent norms, as well as feeling a stronger sense of solidarity with the stammering community.

This discussion group is not intended as a specific training course or therapy programme. Rather, a chance for a group of people who are interested in stammering to get together and engage with some of novel ideas and understandings that are emerging in a supportive and collaborative learning environment. The size of the group will be capped at 12 to enable more in-depth discussions. All sessions will take place over Zoom. We welcome applicants from around the world, but please note that all group times are in the UK time zone.

Learning outcomes

  1. To deepen your knowledge of the diverse and varied understandings of stammering that are being developed by people who stammer
  2. To gain an insight into the differing experiences of stammering depending on gender, race, sexuality, and other neurodiverse identities
  3. To celebrate the benefits stammering can potentially bring to the individual and society around them
  4. To understand the concept of ableism and apply it to the experiences of people who stammer both in society and at times within stammering therapy

Dates

Sessions will take place via Zoom from 7.30pm – 9.00pm on

  • 10th January 2023
  • 7th February 2023
  • 7th March 2023
  • 4th April 2023
  • 2nd May 2023
  • 6th June 2023

Cost

£180 (i.e. £30 per person per session) OR £125 early bird rate (if you pay before the end of 31st December 2022)

About the facilitators

Patrick Campbell is a stammerer and Clinical Genetics doctor living in Leeds, England. He has an interest in how public and self-stigma intertwine to produce disability for people who stammer and how this process can be altered through seeing positive value in stammering.

Sam Simpson is a speech and language therapist, person-centred counsellor, supervisor and trainer with over 25 years’ experience of working with adults who stammer and their families in the public, private, education and voluntary sectors. She has a particular interest in disability studies, stammering activism and what stammering can teach us about ourselves and the world.

Together with Chris Constantino, Patrick and Sam co-edited the book Stammering Pride and Prejudice: Difference not Defect  in 2019.

Apply here: