American Institute for Stuttering

A success story: Chamonix featured on the ASHA website

Chamonix — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:53:46 +0000

Last November at the ASHA Convention in New Orleans, some ASHA representatives were videotaping clinicians to find out what their stories were and how they got into the field. I was approached while on my way to the poster hall and agreed to do it. They said they would select some of the clinicians and it may end up on the ASHA website.

I totally forgot about it and recently a colleague from an old job emailed me that when he went to the ASHA website, he saw the video and was now asking for an autograph (you know, as a joke).

Laughing aside, I think it is interesting to see what drew people to our field. For me, I was drawn to the area of stuttering right off the bat in graduate school. They chose to air that story that I told.

See Chamonix’s video on the ASHA website.

Our 4th Annual Fundraiser Gala: articles and photos

Eric — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:07:55 +0000

Our 4th Annual Fundraiser Gala was held Monday night, and it was a phenomenal evening. Catherine was lovingly remembered, our honorees energized the crowd, and our clients touched the hearts of everyone in the room. A full write-up is in the works.

In the meantime, here are two articles relating to the gala:

Clarence Page writes about his thoughts on stuttering and his experience as an honoree at the gala – The Chicago Tribune.
Emily Blunt talks about stuttering and how acting helped work through the struggles – The Daily Beast.

And we hope that you enjoy this gorgeous slideshow of photos from the evening.

Our beloved Catherine Otto Montgomery (1951–2010)

Eric — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 19:59:33 +0000

Our dear founder and Executive Director of AIS, Catherine Otto Montgomery, passed away last week after an extended fight against cancer. A week later, we are still processing this loss in the midst of keeping the work of AIS going. The work before us is imposing, but with the AIS family behind us and Catherine’s fiery spirit driving us, we plan to reach the goals that she had for us and beyond.

Visit this page to join the many others who have left an expression of love for Catherine.

Thanks also to our friends at StutterTalk, who lovingly remembered Catherine in their latest podcast.

Jodriann speaks at the 2009 Benefit Gala for the American Institute for Stuttering

Eric — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:05:39 +0000

At last year’s Freeing Voices, Changing Lives gala, Jodriann talked about his progress after several months of therapy here.

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Chamonix’s articles on Specialty Recognition in Fluency Disorders

Eric — Mon, 24 May 2010 19:04:34 +0000

We’d like to congratulate our very own Chamonix Olsen on the publication of two articles on Specialty Recognition in Fluency Disorders that she wrote with Jim McClure. Chamonix explained this kind of specialization for SLPs in this post. She is the Specialty Recognition Plan Coordinator on the Specialty Board on Fluency Disorders, and Jim is the Consumer Representative.

The article “Fluency Board Streamlines Recognition Process” was published in The ASHA Leader, the newspaper for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. ASHA is the professional organization for speech-language pathologists. The full text of the article is available to the public.

The article “Specialty Recognition in Fluency Disorders: Challenges for the Second Decade” was published in Perspectives on Fluency and Fluency Disorders. Perspectives is the publication for the Special Interest Divisions of ASHA. The abstract says:

Fluency clinicians pioneered the concept of specialty recognition more than a decade ago. Today, board recognition in fluency disorders is gaining traction among clinicians and consumers, but its impact has been limited by the small size of the specialist community. This article reviews trends in specialty recognition and highlights the work currently in progress to streamline the recognition process and attract more specialists.

Members and subscribers can read the article on the Perspectives website.

Specialty Recognition in Fluency Disorders: Challenges for the Second Decade

Kieran speaks at the 2009 Benefit Gala for the American Institute for Stuttering

Eric — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:58:39 +0000

At last year’s benefit gala for the American Institute for Stuttering, Kieran spoke about his struggles with stuttering and how taking an intensive program changed everything.

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Derek’s speech at the 2009 Benefit Gala for the American Institute for Stuttering

Eric — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:36:38 +0000

AIS client Derek faced his fears and 300 curious and supportive listeners when he stepped up to the podium at last year’s gala. Here is his inspiring speech.

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Now playing: Joe Moglia’s speech at our 2009 Benefit Gala!

Eric — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:04:14 +0000

We continue to post the speeches from last year’s gala. Next up is TD Ameritrade chairman Joe Moglia! We are thrilled to share Joe’s rousing speech. [embedded video below]

Many thanks to Joe for sharing his story last year and his continued support of AIS!

Now playing: Emily Blunt’s speech at our 2009 Benefit Gala!

Eric — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:57:47 +0000

The 4th Annual Freeing Voices, Changing Lives gala is less than a month away! To celebrate the coming gala, we will start posting the honorees’ and clients’ speeches from last year’s event.

We lead with the first honoree of the evening, the beloved British actress, Emily Blunt! [embedded video below]

Last year’s gala made such an impact on Emily that she soon after joined our Board of Directors. And we’re thrilled to have her back to emcee this year’s gala! Thanks to Emily for continuing to support us in reaching people who stutter!

Who is a positive influence in your life in regards to stuttering?

Eric — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:16:58 +0000

On our Facebook page, we posed this simple question:

Who has been a positive influence in your life in regards to stuttering?

We were so happy to see the encouraging responses from our Facebook community that we’d like to share a few here, like:

The National Stuttering Association, all glory goes to them!

In college it was two of my professors. In fact, I still keep in touch with them.

I received no speech therapy, so it has to great thanks to my parents, sisters, brother and teachers/classmates in childhood/teenage – they all respected me and teached to believe in myself, and thanks my own great will, which all people noticed.

Me! =)

We’d love to hear from our blog readers as well.

Who has been a positive influence in your life in regards to stuttering?