1 Academic and Clinical Training in Stuttering and Counseling at the University of Pittsburgh J. Scott Yaruss, Ph.D., CCC-SLP Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh Clinical Research Consultant, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Co-Director, Stuttering Center of Western PA

2 My “philosophy” of teaching Do I have a philosophy?

3 My “philosophy” of teaching Do I have a philosophy? Yes! I guess I do…

4 My Teaching Goal Students will be prepared to truly help people who stutter

5 My Teaching Goal Students will be prepared to truly help people who stutter Understanding the nature of stuttering

6 My Teaching Goal Students will be prepared to truly help people who stutter Understanding that stuttering involves more than just speech disfluencies

7 My Teaching Goal Students will be prepared to truly help people who stutter Ability to help people who stutter deal with the complex emotions they might experience

8 My Teaching Goal Students will be prepared to truly help people who stutter Confidence to enter treatment as a partner and to take risks with their clients

9 My Teaching Goal Students will be prepared to truly help people who stutter Critical thinking skills so they can evaluate their own abilities and changes in the field

10 Accomplishing The Goal Multiple assignments to give students multiple perspectives on stuttering Lecture / Discussion / Participation Readings (textbook + packet) Experience Assignments In-class practice / Case presentations Term Paper / Exams Integration with clinical practice

11 How my teaching has evolved… I have tried to move more toward giving students the opportunity to DEVELOP an understanding of stuttering, rather than just being taught about it Well, it hasn’t had time yet…

12 Organizing Principle (philosophy & evolution combined) ASKING and ANSWERING QUESTIONS

13 Daily Questions Each lecture is based on a series of questions on a given topic Discussions and lectures are designed to answer the daily questions Students receive each day’s questions before they do the reading and they receive the answers after each lecture

14 Example – Lecture 1 What is Stuttering? What are definitions of terms for stuttering? What is fluency? disfluency? dysfluency? nonfluency? stuttering? Why are there so many different terms for speech interruptions? What are the various types of disfluencies? Why are some disfluencies called normal and others stuttered? What is the difference between stuttering events and the stuttering disorder? Who produces disfluencies? What is a person who stutters? What is a stutterer? What is the difference between a PWS and a PWDNS? What is the distribution of stuttering in the population? Why is it so important for clinicians to become comfortable with stuttering? How can we do this?

15 Daily Questions Answering questions… Helps students evaluate their (mis)conceptions about stuttering Helps students take ownership of their own learning Helps students find interests in the field Helps students learn to ask questions of their clients and “lead from behind” Helps students learn to learn on their own

16 One Class Is Not Enough! My counseling class complements the stuttering class to provide additional skills necessary for helping people who stutter Daily practice with counseling microskills, such as attending, listening, empathetic responses, summarizing, challenging, etc. Developing comfort identifying, talking about, validating, and exploring clients’ feelings about their communication disorder

17 Summary Stuttering is a multi-faceted disorder, so I teach about stuttering through multiple avenues Participation / Discussion Understanding basic issues and theories Experience and comfort with stuttering Experience with treatment strategies Experience and comfort with counseling Learning to ask and answer questions