Academic and Clinical Training in Stuttering and Counseling at the University of Pittsburgh

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Academic and Clinical Trainingin Stuttering and
Counseling atthe University of Pittsburgh

• J. Scott Yaruss, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
• Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh
• Clinical Research Consultant, Childrens
  Hospital of Pittsburgh
• Co-Director, Stuttering Center of Western PA

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My philosophyof teaching

• Do I have a philosophy?

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My philosophyof teaching

• Do I have a philosophy?
• Yes! I guess I do

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My Teaching Goal

• Students will be preparedto truly help people
  who stutter

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My Teaching Goal

• Students will be preparedto truly help people
  who stutter
• Understanding the nature of stuttering

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My Teaching Goal

• Students will be preparedto truly help people
  who stutter
• Understanding that stuttering involves more than
  just speech disfluencies

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My Teaching Goal

• Students will be preparedto truly help people
  who stutter
• Ability to help people who stutter deal with the
  complex emotions they might experience

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My Teaching Goal

• Students will be preparedto truly help people
  who stutter
• Confidence to enter treatment as a partner and to
  take risks with their clients

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My Teaching Goal

• Students will be preparedto truly help people
  who stutter
• Critical thinking skills so they can
  evaluatetheir own abilities and changes in the
  field

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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

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How my teaching has evolved

• Well, it hasnt had time yet

• I have tried to move more towardgiving students
  the opportunity toDEVELOP anunderstanding
  ofstuttering, rather thanjust being taught
  about it

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Organizing Principle (philosophy evolution
combined)

• ASKING and ANSWERING QUESTIONS

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Daily Questions

• Each lecture is based on a seriesof questions on
  a given topic
• Discussions and lectures aredesigned to answer
  the daily questions
• Students receive each days questions before they
  do the reading and they receive the answers after
  each lecture

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Example Lecture 1What 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?

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Daily Questions

• Answering questions
• Helps students evaluate their(mis)conceptions
  about stuttering
• Helps students take ownershipof 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

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One ClassIs Not Enough!

• My counseling classcomplements 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

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Summary

• Stuttering is a multi-faceteddisorder, so I
  teach aboutstuttering 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