Throughout his work, Dr. Chris Constantino explores different narratives of stuttering. Chris encourages us to think beyond those such as ‘Stuttering as Hardship’ and ‘Stuttering as Delight’, and to come up with our own narratives around stammering. My experiences with stammering pride, meditation and a smattering of Buddhist thinking have helped me form my stammering … read more…
As a speech-language therapist, a person who stutters, and a doctoral candidate researching stigma and representation, I often find myself navigating two seemingly distinct worlds: the clinical and the critical. The ‘Bridging Dysfluency Theory and Clinical Practice’ workshop series was the first training I encountered that deliberately built a bridge between these worlds – namely … read more…
How my personal experience inspired my research study To truly understand my excitement about this new project – and my deep commitment to researching the potential benefits of self-compassion for people who stammer – I need to share a little about how self-compassion changed my own life. Some of you may have read parts of … read more…
I have worked as a speech and language therapist with children, young people, and adults who stammer for many years and I have loved it. Being invited to explore ideas with people considering potential change in their life is a huge privilege, and as the one person in the room without lived experience of either … read more…
What would a conversation between two people who stutter look like? As I write I am putting the finishing touches to a collaborative piece of work that Conor Foran and I have been working on for our upcoming exhibition at City Lit in London. The exhibition is called ’Wouldn’t you rather talk like us?’ – … read more…
Stuttering pride is starting to mature. No longer a hushed whisper that might evaporate if spoken aloud, the social movement of stuttering pride has turned to root and flower. In this post I want to consider the growing stuttering community from the perspective of a gardener. Nietzsche, of all people, offers a starting point: “Woe … read more…
I have been a speech and language therapist for 30 years now working with people who stammer of all ages. I like the idea that everything I learned about stuttering and its therapy resembles a map. When I listened to Sam Simpson’s keynote talk at the ECSF Symposium in Antwerp in 2020, it felt that … read more…
In June 2023 I took part in the 50 Million Voices practice interview event; an initiative that does so much to unlock the talent of people who stutter by tackling the barriers created by workplace interviews. I’ve been involved with 50MV since meeting Iain Wilkie and Sam Simpson when I was a mentor on the … read more…
What is the impact of childhood intervention on those who continue to stutter into adulthood? Many adults have shared their experiences in memoirs, on podcasts, in blogs, etc. and most of those experiences are stories of recovery – not from stuttering, but from the impact of earlier therapy. Parents can benefit from reading these accounts, … read more…
Something serendipitous has welled up in my PhD research. An unexpected connection has sparked and fused. This connection is all about time, or rather its disruption, through usurping societal expectations of chronological time. It spans between my research area and the creative approach. This connection is opening up possibilities for thinking creatively around disfluency. The … read more…