ONLINE: Community-Centred Assessment and Treatment for Children who Stutter

Online Learning

Session 1 Thursday 26th May 2022, 11.00am-2.00pm NZST

Session 2 Thursday 2nd June 2022, 11.00am-2.00pm NZST 

This event will not be recorded for later viewing. Single registration cost is for each individual, not per site. Each person must register and attendance is required for both sessions. Zoom will be used to deliver the training with “meeting room” details emailed to participants prior to each module. You will need to download Zoom software to your computer. A webcam and inbuilt microphone on your computer is also preferable so you can fully participate.

Intended Participants

This series of two 3hr-hour tele-training modules is intended for Speech-Language Therapists who work with preschool and school-age/adolescent children who stutter.

Readings and Resources

There are no recommended pre-readings.

Learning Objectives 

Following this event participants will:

• Describe community-centred assessment and treatment for children who stutter from preschool through adolescence.
• Identify key principles of indirect and direct stuttering treatment for preschool children who stutter.
• Develop specific, meaningful, and measurable goals for children who stutter.
• Describe counselling theories and techniques utilised in stuttering intervention.
• Describe various approaches to improve peer knowledge about stuttering and how to be allies for children who stutter

Content and Format

This two-part course will cover assessment and treatment for children who stutter using a community-centred model. The first part of the course will highlight key considerations for indirect and direct therapy for preschool children. The second part of the course will emphasize clinical management of the observable and affective-cognitive components of stuttering for older children. Various techniques and resources will be provided that can immediately be implemented into practice. Participants will have an opportunity to raise case-specific questions.

About Mary Weidner and Craig Coleman

Mary Weidner is an Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Program Coordinator in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, USA. Mary's area of research focuses on measuring and changing children’s attitudes toward peers with communication disorders. She developed the Attitude Change and Tolerance program (InterACT), an educational program that teaches children about awareness and acceptance of human differences. The program has been translated into various languages and has been shown to be an effective tool to improve young children’s stuttering attitudes.

Craig Coleman is the Department Chairperson of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, USA and a Board-Certified Specialist in Fluency Disorders. He currently serves as the Vice President for Planning of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Craig was a previous Coordinator of ASHA Special Interest Group 4: Fluency and Fluency Disorders. Craig collaborated on the child versions of the Overall Assessment of the Child's Experience of Stuttering (OASES), which assesses the affective and cognitive components of stuttering.