This session addresses the role of the speech-language pathologist in eliciting insights into the nature of stuttering, exploring associated problems with clients, and illuminating the variety of choices for communication with guidance in achieving desired outcomes. We discuss how SLPs can become guides in expanding a client’s imagination of what is possible, helping them see a preferred future which was previously unimaginable, leading to hope and genuine choice and often resulting in small actionable steps that lead to meaningful changes.
 
Learning Objectives:
Participants will:
1. Describe the role of the speech-language pathologist in stuttering treatment.
2. Explain the nature of open-ended conversations which elicit insight into the client’s stuttering experience, its impact in the lives of individuals who stutter, and their readiness for change.
3. Identify at least two models of questioning through motivational interviewing and solution-focused brief therapy approaches.
 
Target Audience: Speech-Language Pathologists, Graduate Students
 
Daniel Shaw, MS, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist at the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center in Nashville, TN, where he serves children, teens, and adults who stutter (along with their families). He also serves preschool-aged children with autism in the Preschool For Children With Autism and coordinates parent education for the program. He loves to read, write, teach, and expose his family to the great outdoors. He is also a fan of hide-and-seek and has been known to instigate Nerf wars around the house.
 
Ana Paula G. Mumy, SLPD, CCC-SLP, is a trilingual speech-language pathologist, program director and associate professor at East Texas Baptist University. Dr. Mumy is the co-founder and president of Spero Stuttering, Inc., a nonprofit organization that seeks to help, empower, and advocate for the stuttering community and their families by equipping those who work with people who stutter. She received the 2022 NSA Professional of the Year award and the 2024 Burtis-Vogel-Elkins Community Service Award for her service and initiatives through Spero Stuttering. She enjoys singing, writing, reading, traveling with her husband and kids, and fostering their bilingual journeys.