Atlanta Stuttering Therapy

02/23/2024

02/20/2024

Join us at the Friends: The National Association of Young People Who Stutter One Day Conference at Georgia State University on March 9th!

The Friends one-day conference is a wonderful opportunity for families to come together and learn about stuttering while meeting others who are dealing with similar struggles. Children’s programming is activity-based and focuses on feelings and strategies for dealing with stuttering.

01/24/2024

Celebrating a milestone at the American Institute for Stuttering in Atlanta!

Last night marked our first in-person Tuesday night group for current and past clients – and it was a fantastic gathering of 16 amazing individuals. 🌟 The energy, vulnerability, and support in the room were truly inspiring.

We're thrilled to announce that our Tuesday night group will now be a regular occurrence, meeting on the 4th Tuesday of every month in our Atlanta office from 6:30-8:00 pm. This welcoming space is open to current and past clients ages 14 and up, fostering connection and support in an environment where stuttered voices are accepted, encouraged, and normalized. 🗣️💙 Join us!

08/07/2023

👏 Our 2023 Annual Convention Keynote Speaker has been invited to design a billboard for a 🌆 NYC art museum 🎨 and he wants input from the FRIENDS community!

“I want to make the billboard a celebration of stuttering/stammering pride and acceptance and affirmation. I want the billboard to offer a positive message. I want the billboard to be responsive to the desires of different folks who stutter.”

You can help JJJJJerome by answering the following questions in the comments:

1️⃣ What, if anything, would you want to see on a billboard like this? This could be text, images, etc

2️⃣ If the billboard said “Stuttering is _____”, what would you want to see in the blank?

3️⃣ Anything else you'd like to share?

06/30/2023

Article by AIS Director Dr. Heather Grossman. Blocks share many of the common characteristics of avoidance behaviors.

10/21/2022

Fun to see our building featured in this Access Atlanta article about great neighborhoods for hanging out! We love the vibrancy of L5P and the opportunities it provides our clients to talk to people in the community.

7 local-approved spots in Atlanta to avoid tourists

04/22/2022

It was a good day here in Atlanta for one of our friends!

04/15/2022

The other day, a client of ours was reflecting on a shift they were feeling, away from effortful struggle and toward more spontaneous, forward-flowing speech.

“I guess I’ve just gotten more comfortable taking the blankets off of my stutter.”

Blankets!

As anyone who follows us knows, we LOVE metaphors here at AIS. And this one was a gem. Have you ever thrown a blanket over something because you just couldn’t deal with it? Or because you hated it and didn’t want anyone to look it—not even yourself? Well, imagine one blanket isn’t enough. You know the thing’s still under there, so you add another one. And another. Pretty soon you’ve successfully buried whatever’s underneath—but now you’re living with a big, bulky pile.

The blanket is a shield, of course. But it’s also a comfort, a safety, the first place we want to duck under when we’re scared. That's the paradox of those "helpful" avoidances: They're both a warm friend AND something that can hold you back.

When we talk about avoidance reduction at AIS, we’re really talking about building peoples’ confidence and vulnerability to a level where they feel like they can share their authentic selves with the world. Where they can take the blankets off.

What are some of your stuttering safety blankets? When was the last time you let them go and got to be your real self with someone?

04/01/2022

This Therapy Thursday we're talking about speech play!

One of the most fun things we do with our child clients is playing around with different types of talking. Bumpy talking! Squeaky talking! Low talking! Grumpy talking! Speech play always leads to giggles, but what does it do for our clients? When we look at the rationale for speech play, we see that a seemingly simple activity has complex effects.

Joy and play: For some children who stutter, speech has become stressful. Too much physical and emotional energy are spent trying to talk “just right” and eliminate mistakes. Playing with different ways of speaking can put the fun back into talking, and demonstrate that there are lots of “right” ways to speak.

Control of the speech system: To change their style, a child has to alter many aspects of speech: pitch, rate, volume, and positioning of the articulators. In doing this, they learn that they have choices in how they talk.

Desensitization to stuttering: We often include “bumpy talking” (repetitions), “stretchy talking” (prolongations) and “stuck talking” (blocks) on our list of choices. This gives the child a chance to see stuttering as one of many ways people talk. It also provides the opportunity to introduce helpful messages like, “sometimes people get stuck when they talk, and that’s okay.”

How to do it:

We introduce speech play in lots of different ways. Here are a few you might try:

* Ask the child to brainstorm different ideas with you. How do you talk when you’re mad? How would a mouse talk? If you’re doing teletherapy, you can add visual interest by creating a slide for each voice with a picture the child helps choose.
* Use a spinner tool (online or low-tech) to game-ify the activity by placing each type of speech on the wheel and letting the child spin it.
* Use puppets or other toys to assign each a different voice.



Photo by Amina Filkins from Pexels

04/01/2022

We have a sign!

We've had an office in Atlanta for 5 years now, and we're continuing to grow! If you or someone you know is struggling with stuttering, we're happy to help. At AIS, we offer specialized, universally affordable therapy for people who stutter and support for their families.

03/02/2022

Research participants needed! Jaclyn Lucey, a PhD candidate at the U. of South Florida is looking for survey participants ages 18+. Details below -

Seeking adults who stutter to complete an online survey about their experiences in stuttering treatment and perceptions of stuttering treatment (USF IRB: 000780)

The survey should take approximately 20 to 30 minutes to finish. By participating in this survey, you may contribute to knowledge about experiences and opinions related to stuttering treatment. Participants will be adults who stutter (age 18 and above) who have attended speech therapy for stuttering at some point in their life.

If you are interested in participating, please use the following link: https://usf.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bQ2uSIW6Ur58ZpP, or feel free to contact Jaclyn Lucey at jlucey1@usf.edu with any questions or concerns.

Qualtrics sophisticated online survey software solutions make creating online surveys easy. Learn more about Research Suite and get a free account today.