News Detail

The SUNY Cortland Chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA) will present a workshop for speech language pathologists on campus Saturday, April 30.              

“Practical Treatment Strategies for School-age Children Who Stutter” will be presented by J. Scott Yaruss, a speech language pathologist and stuttering expert who is a member of the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh. Also, he is coordinator of Clinical Research of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and director of the Stuttering Center of Western Pennsylvania. Yaruss has been practicing speech language pathology for more than 20 years, has authored over 150 publications, and is an American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) Fellow. His biographical information is extensive and posted on his website. 

The full-day workshop will be held in Sperry Center, Room 105, from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. A breakfast selection and lunch will be provided. It is co-sponsored by the Ithaca College NSSLHA Chapter and the Central New York Speech Language Hearing Association (CNYSLHA). For more information contact Michael Pitcher by email or at 607-756-5423.

The purpose of this conference is to delve into the broad disorder of stuttering and provide detailed information on diagnostic tools, Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals and treatment strategies. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and eligibility criteria for children who stutter will be discussed in detail, along with writing goals and benchmarks. In addition, therapeutic techniques focusing on improving fluency and bettering a child’s personal emotional and cognitive reactions will be explored.

Yaruss will concentrate on the child’s environment and ways to reduce teasing and bullying, involve parents and teachers and the benefits of stuttering support groups. This introductory level conference will be of particular interest to working speech language pathologists and communication disorders and sciences students and faculty. Participants should gain confidence in their ability to help children who stutter, and will be taught skills to be better equipped to face the difficulties of stuttering therapy in schools and a variety of other settings.