summer 2008 newsletter

By Anne Smith, Ph.D.Purdue University

I am pleased to have this opportu-nity to update you on the progressover the past year from the Purdue

Stuttering Project.You may recallfrom our earlierarticles that weare engaged in alongitudinal studyof young childrenwho stutter andtheir normallyfluent controls.With funding

from the NIH's National Instituteon Deafness and OtherCommunication Disorders, wehave been recruiting 4 and 5-year-olds, and we will be followingthem yearly for a period of 5years. In fact, we have just re-ceived notice from the NIH thatour project will be funded for anadditional five years.After the five years of testing, the

children will be 9 or 10 years old,and approximately half of themwill have recovered from stutter-ing, while half will persist. In eachyearly visit to our laboratories, thechildren participate in an extensiveset of experiments, including thosethat test basic motor timing ability,

Continued on page 8

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www.stutteringhelp.org • 800-992-9392 • www.tartamudez.org

THE STUTTERING FOUNDATIONA Nonprofit Organization Since 1947... Helping Those Who StutterSUMMER 2008

Frances Cook, whojoined the SFA Board ofDirectors in January, hasspecialized in stutteringsince the early 1970s.In 2005, she earned

Honours of the RoyalCollege of Speech andLanguage Therapists, be-came Honorary ResearchFellow of University CollegeLondon (Psychology Dept)

in 2005, and has been headof Speciality at the MichaelPalin Centre in Londonsince 1995.She has authored numer-

ous papers, chapters andtexts in relation to stutteringtherapy and research, andcontributed to the StutteringFoundation’s recently re-leased DVD Stuttering:Basic Clinical Skills. �

New Researchfrom Purdue

Anne Smith, Ph.D.

Darren Sproles, ofthe San DiegoChargers who madehistory last seasonby returning a kick-off and a punt for hisfirst two NFL touch-downs in the samegame, joins other fa-mous people whostutter in a newbrochure celebrating

Thegreatplay

Thegreatplayfor SFAfor SFA

SprolesJoinsSportsLegends

Photos courtesy of NFL

National StutteringAwareness Weekis May 12-18

National StutteringAwareness Weekis May 12-18

Frances Cook Joins SFA Board

Facts about Darren Sproles��Team: San Diego Chargers��Position: Running back and return specialist

��College: Kansas State University

��Born: Waterloo, Iowa��Career Highlights: Twice named The Kansas City Star Player of the Year

Source: www.wikipedia.com

Frances Cook

Continued on page 13

Inside...�Exciting new DVD . . . . . . . 2�Fraser earns national award . 3�Remembering Richard Curleeand Vivian Sheehan . . . . . . 4

�Letters from young readers. 6�A recipe for confidence . . . 9�Celebrate Awareness Week . 16

800-992-93922 www.stutteringhelp.org

By Diane Parris, M.S.Boston University

“In order to be a growing professional, we need tobe always on the fringe of our incompetency,” that isto say we always need to be pushing ourselves to ourlimits of competence in order to learn newskills at higher levels.This was the invitation offered

by David Luterman, D.Ed. as hebegan training ten participants incounseling skills for the latestStuttering Foundation productionSharpening Counseling Skills.Based on forty years of experience

and as Director of the Thayer LindseyFamily-Centered Nursery for HearingImpaired Children at Emerson Collegein Boston, and on his seminal book,Counseling Persons with Communication Disordersand Their Families, Dr. Luterman describes the coun-seling relationship as an unconventional one.“It is a relationship that necessitates deep, self-

less listening.” It requires the professional to put aside his or her

point of view in order to fully understand theclient’s point of view and to put themselves in therole of “coach, not fixer.”This three-hour DVD captures the unique process

that a clinician goes through in learning how to lis-ten deeply and to provide counseling with inner wis-dom. As a viewer, you will join the ten participants— a graduate student, beginning and experiencedclinicians, and researchers — as they transform theirthinking about being in the role of counselor andpractice the skill of nonjudgmental listening.You will hear their personal stories and concerns

when an environment of emotional safety is created.When understanding and acceptance are provided, theybegin the process of resolving problems on their own.Counseling from this perspective means the clin-

ician must overcome the discomfort associatedwith silence, an essential tool in deep listening. Heor she must resist the tendency to provide immedi-ate information and advice to clients and insteadlisten to the messages that lie beneath their words.“And also, sometimes, we have to be willing to take a

few leaps into the void” of vulnerability that comes withnot relying on being the expert with all the answers. Thekinds of counseling techniques that emerge from estab-lishing this type of genuine therapeutic relationship aremasterfully demonstrated by Dr. Luterman.He makes evident the power and opportunity that

stillness and silent witnessing create, and he teach-es us to open up to others and to ourselves.Editor: This DVD should be an essential training

tool for all those in the helping professions. �

STUTTERINGFOUNDATION

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Luterman’s Expertise Sharpens Skills

Behind the scenes

“Getting Wired”

�BobO’Brienpreparesthe videoequipment.

�David Luterman puts onhis microphone before thefilming begins.

Participants put ontheir microphones.

SUMMER 2008 3800-992-9392

With 1.4 million nonprofitsin this country to choose from,the NonProfit Times namedJane Fraser,the presi-dent of theS tu t t e r ingFoundation,Execu t iveof the Yearfor 2007. In a front-page story,the nationalpublicationrecognized Fraser for her long-time work with the 60-year-oldFoundation.“In choosing our Executiveof the Year, we consider ex-ecutives who have made adifference not just for theirown organizations but morebroadly as well, on behalf ofother nonprofits,” said MarkHrywna, the publication’s se-nior editor.“We also examine the impactthat organizations of all sizeshad on the nonprofit sectorduring the previous year andit was clear that Jane Frasermet that qualification in2007,” he said. �

Fraser EarnsNational Award

By Patricia M. Zebrowski, Ph.D.University of Iowa

A number of years ago, I becameinterested in the study of “PositivePsychology” (Seligman, 2002 ) as itmay be applied to helping childrenwho stutter and their parents uncov-er and appreciatethe strengths theybring to the thera-py experience,strengths that like-ly play a majorrole in treatmentoutcome. As Wampold

and his colleagues(1997) in the areasof psychotherapy and counselingpsychology have long argued, Ihave come to believe that the at-tributes of both the client and theclinician that matter most in therapysuccess, and while fluency and stut-tering management techniques areessential to any kind of speechchange, they make a relatively smallcontribution to the overall experi-ence. As an example, consider thecurrent clinical and research interestin child temperament and how itmay relate to either stuttering devel-opment or recovery, or to treatmentsuccess. Our focus in consideringtemperament is frequently on how itmay be causal or related to the per-petuation of stuttering and an obsta-cle to therapy. This is certainly avalid assumption, and clinical expe-rience suggests that it can be thecase. However, looking for “what’swrong” with the child with regard totemperament may prevent us fromconsidering how temperament mayalso represent a ‘strength” for thechild, something that we shouldpoint out, nurture, and discuss withthe parents as a way to highlight forthem “what’s right” with the child. Regardless of their similarities

or differences, how can the tem-perament and personality of achild who stutters represent a“signature strength” (Seligman,2002), and thus contribute to a

positive outcome in therapy? Forexample, preliminary research hasshown that children who stutterwho exhibit the temperamentalsubstrate of rhythmicity, or tem-poral regularity in eating, sleep-ing, and elimination, may be morelikely to benefit from the practiceeffects associated with picturenaming (which might be associat-ed with the practice effect of ther-apy) than do children with lessrhythmic biological cycles(Arnold, Conture & Walden,2004). As such, there may be in-creased likelihood of transfer andmaintenance of speech modifica-tion skills presented in therapy, re-gardless of what those strategiesmight be. As another example,consider the child who experi-ences a strong degree of reactivityand subsequent negative emotion-al response to either his stuttering,or the reaction of others to hisstuttered speech. If the child hasdeveloped the ability to regulatehis reactions to his own behavior(stuttering) or environmental reac-tion (e.g., routinely shift his atten-tion onto more pleasant, positiveor facilitating stimuli, events orpeople), he may fail to develop ha-bituated avoidant speech or inter-action strategies that have longbeen thought to characterize, andperhaps contribute to, chronicstuttering. In such cases, the childcan be described as resilient, inthat his temperament and relatedadaptive skills facilitate the abilityto ‘bounce back’ or take relativelynegative stuttering related experi-ences in stride. Further, a childwhose levels of reactivity, emo-tional response, and ability to self-regulate contribute to a more dom-inant, extraverted and sociablepersonality might be inclined toreadily and positively approachvarious social and communicationsituations, including therapy (asopposed to reluctantly and nega-tively approaching same). In ad-dition, such a child might display

Temperament Can Underlie “SignatureStrengths” in Children Who Stutter

Patricia Zebrowski, Ph.D.

Continued on page 9

Donors may now make giftsthrough the Network for Good Website, www.networkforgood.org. This excellent organization, as

part of Guidestar, works to makethe work of nonprofits more effec-tive and efficient as well as pro-motes transparency and account-ability throughout the sector. Greater transparency means you

as a donor know where and howyour donor dollars are being used. �


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4 www.stutteringhelp.org 800-992-9392

By Vivian Sisskin,University of Maryland, College Park

Vivian Sheehan was a talented,innovative and powerful force inthe field of speech-languagepathology. She passed away onFebruary 14, 2008 at the age of 90at her home in Santa Monica,California. Through six decades ofwork as a clinician, educator, andmentor, she helped countless peo-ple free themselves of the struggleand avoidance associated with stut-tering to achieve comfortable,spontaneous communication.Vivian was known for her bound-less energy, kind demeanor, andsharp wit. She was passionateabout her work and the professionof speech-language pathology. Her excitement for group ther-

apy was nothing less than conta-gious. As a young undergraduatestudent at U.C.L.A., I watchedher perform what seemed to be“magic” ingroup therapy. Ir e m e m b e rlaughter andtears, but whatstood out washow she createdan environmentfor changethrough trustand support. Iknew immedi-ately that Iwanted to do the same. As clini-cians who did not stutter, weknew we could never truly livethe fear and shame that often ac-companies a stuttering problem.

By Edward G. ContureVanderbilt University

“Quality is not an act. It is ahabit,” said Aristotle. No truerwords could be spoken about thelate Dr. Richard F. Curlee, whodied January 29, 2008 in Tucson,AZ. Dr. Curlee’s habit of high-quality personal and professionalcontributions was not happen-stance; it was a choice that hemade as a student as well as dur-ing his long tenure as professor,interim Head and Associate Deanat his beloved University of Arizona.Dr. Curlee went to high school

in North Carolina and receivedhis Bachelor of Arts at WakeForest University. Subsequently,he received his M.A. and Ph.D. atthe University of SouthernCalifornia where he studied withDr. William Perkins, himself a pi-oneer in the scientific investiga-tion of stuttering. Even in theseearly days, there were harbingersof Dick Curlee’s future success asDr. Perkins noted at Dick’s retire-

ment, “Of my several dozen doc-toral students, Dr. Curlee was eas-ily the most tal-ented. He was anatural leader.Fellow studentsflocked to himfor guidance.” A recipient of

the MalcolmFraser Awardfrom the StutteringFoundation ofAmerica, Dr.Curlee was a Fellow of theAmerican Speech-Language-Hearing Association, from whichhe had also received its highestaward, Honors of the Association.His memorial service took place

on March 2, 2008, in Tucson, AZ,and at that service his friends Drs.Anthony DeFeo, Roger Inghamand Frederick Spahr spoke inDick’s honor about his many ac-complishments, contributions aswell as their personal and profes-sional remembrances. A Stuttering

Vivian Sheehan: Pioneering Speech-LanguagePathologist and Advocate for People Who Stutter

Richard Curlee: Remembered as a Gentleman,Scholar and for His Acts of Kindness The Malcolm

Fraser SocietyBy Don LinebackFurman University and SFA Board Member

Malcolm Fraser led by ex-ample. He founded theS t u t t e r i n gFoundation,sustained itwith his gen-erous gifts,and perpetuat-ed it through amagnanimousbequest. It isaltogether fit-ting that theS t u t t e r i n gFounda t i onGift Society be named for him.The Malcolm Fraser Society

seeks to honor those who in-clude the Stuttering Foundationin their estate plans, and whoagree to be listed annually inthe newsletter as members ofthe Society. The amount willnot be listed.

Such gifts may include:• Bequests;• Trusts paying the donor in-come for life;• Income-producing annuities;• Life insurance;• IRAs or other pension plans.

Suggested phrasing for asimple bequest would be: “I give and bequeath $ ________ (or ____ percentof my residual estate) to theStuttering Foundation, acharity founded in Memphis,Tennessee.”In all cases, you should con-

sult your legal advisor for theappropriate type of gift andwording.Editor’s Note: We appreci-

ate the trust and support ofthose who have included theFoundation in their will. �

MalcolmFraser

Richard Curlee

VivianSheehan




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SUMMER 2008 5800-992-9392

Annual Audit of Foundation

Funds expended for:Creation, production, printing and distribution

of educational materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $580,089 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.0%Public information and education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351,521 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.8%Educational symposia for professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217,436 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.5%Therapy program and research on causes/treatment of stuttering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269,637 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.7%Maintain Web site and toll-free information hotline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6%Total for Program Services: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,507,668 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93.6%Other expenditures:

Administration and general . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93,641 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Fund-raising expense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,252 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%

Total Expenditures: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,610,561 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100%

The annual audit of the StutteringFoundation financial reports for 2007was recently completed by the ac-counting firm of Cannon andCompany, Certified PublicAccountants, Memphis, Tenn.Following is a recap of funds and

expenditures for the year. The 5.8% of expenditures for adminis-tration and general expenses and the6/10 of 1% for fund raising are verylow, and since we are fortunate to havean endowment which more than coversour overhead expenses, donors can be

assured that their gifts will go directlyto support our program services. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) pri-vate operating foundation which ex-pends its funds on its own programsand operations and does not makegrants to other institutions.

Rocket Science’s Blitz Provides Insight

Q: Is there one incident in yourchildhood that inspired you towrite the screenplay for RocketScience?A: There wasn’t a single incidentthat inspired Rocket Science butthere was one moment that I keptin mind as I wrote. When I was ahigh school sophomore, I went tomy first debate tournament. Iblocked on my very first word andstayed blocked on it for the entire8 minutes I was allocated. I triedto never forget the frustration(and, in a dark way, the humor) ofthat moment.

Q: What has been your reactionover the years to the many moviesthat display people who stutter ina negative light?A: To be honest, I never took itpersonally. It always seemedridiculous to me the way stutter-ing was used — as a kind ofmetaphor for a bigger problem inany character. How many moviesdo we have to see where the seem-ingly weak kid with a stutter turnsout to be the killer before that ideastarts to seem idiotic. I mean, ifthe hollywood version of stutter-ing was true then we’d all be injail for murder. But, to be fair,stupid hollywood movies treat ev-eryone except supermodels in anegative light. Yes, stutterers getthe short end of the stick, but sodo many other sorts of people. Ithink it says more about bad andthoughtless filmmaking than any-thing else.

Q: What thoughts were goingthrough your head when/if youwatched A Fish Called Wanda?A: I actually really enjoyed A FishCalled Wanda when I saw it yearsago. The whole movie is over-the-top including the portrait of thestutterer. I know that many stutter-ers hate that movie but I somehownever felt personally savaged by it.I just remember laughing reallyhard through most of it.

Q: Do you want people in the in-dustry to work to foster more pos-itive portrayals of people whostutter in film and television?A: I think this is actually a danger-ous kind of wish. I don’t think anygroup should be treated such thatall you see is a positive portrait.What I hope for is more honest por-trayals of life in general. For my-self, I don’t need to see a stutterersucceed in a movie as much as Iwant to see a stutterer experiencelife as I know it to be. Realism isthe more important goal, I think.

Q: You, no doubt, have gottenmany personal responses as a re-sult of Rocket Science.What is theone that stands out most in yourmind?A: Well, I love it when stuttererstell me that I’ve captured some-thing essential about the experi-ence of stuttering. That alwayslands well for me. My favorite re-sponse came when the movieplayed at the Edinburgh FilmFestival and one young stutterercame up after and said that theonly thing that would have madethe movie better was if two peoplestuttered in it and not just one!

Q: Did you get any negative feed-back from people who stutter andif so, what was the general gripe?

Q&A

Photos courtesy of HBO Video.

Jeffrey Blitz, writer and direc-tor of Rocket Science, answersSFA questions. This latest pro-ject is now available on DVD.



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Like a hockey puckDear SFA:My name is Colton, and I am

7 years old. I live in Canada. Ilike to play hockey, golf, soc-cer and baseball. I also likeschool and my family. Gettinghelp from a speech teachermakes a big difference for me.I talked to my class about stut-tering and it helped becausethey got to learn about stutter-ing, and also I got a chance totell the other kids importantmessages like “Don’t teaseother people because theyhave a difference from you.”For me, stuttering is like a

hockey puck because it starts goingfast then it stops suddenly. It helpsme to imagine this because I canthink what to do and then get mov-ing with the puck again. Colton, 7Canada

A fun, awesome 3rd graderDear SFA:My name is Katie. I am in 3rd

grade. I like to play football, havesleep-overs, cheerlead, color, andsleep. I am good at science, math,taking tests, watching TV, andchanging my baby sister’s diapers.I have stuttered since the 2nd

grade. My friends think I’m crazy,

fun, awesome, love my hair, and myshoes. When I speak, I repeat thesounds and words several times. Iprolong sounds. I move body parts(my hands) when I stutter, and I try tofind other words when I am talking.KatieOwensboro, Ky.

Stuttering isn’t illegalDear SFA:I don’t mind stuttering. It’s not

like it’s illegal to stutter. But I don’tlike it when I can’t let the wordsout. Robert, my speech therapist,helps me learn about stuttering. Oh,and by the way, I’m John, and I’m8 3/4 years old.John

New book may helpDear SFA:Sometimes when I’m

stuttering I feel very angry.When I was in second grade,I was stuttering and peoplestarted to laugh at me. Myteacher talked to me outside,and she talked to peoplewho were laughing.Also, if you stutter, just use

your techniques. It will helpyou. People will get used tome stuttering and no one willlaugh at me again.In my new school, my friend

Dara stutters too. Dara wascrying because boys were

making fun of her. I felt sad for Dara.I felt mad at the people who madefun of her.JonishaWyandanch, N.Y.Editor’s Note: Trouble at Recess

(on page 7) is a great book thatdeals with bullying.

Still learning about stutteringDear SFA:I don’t mind my stuttering. It’s

not that bad.Sometimes stuttering makes me feel

sad. Especially when people make funof me, which occurs not very often.But sometimes people call me names.I go to speech therapy every


Picture PerfectSometimes I get stuck on words when I meet new teachers and newpeople, and then I stutter. Now that I go to speech, I have learned howto control and work through my stuttering. They both help me with myspeech. They taught me to say all my letters and words without get-ting stuck. They have taught me how to breathe better and how tostretch out words and work through bumpy words. I do not mind thatI stutter and have learned to love talking in front of others! I love play-ing drums, and I love to sing.

Angelo, Roslindale, M.A.Do you have artwork to share? E-mail it to us at [email protected].

Dominic and Rebecca with a “speech tools” birthdaycake at the University of South Alabama. The cake says“brain, mouth, vocal folds, lips, voice box.”

Angelo drew this picture of a band.

Send letters to SFA, P.O. Box 11749, Memphis, TN 38111-0749 or email [email protected].

Dear SFA: Reader Response



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SUMMER 2008 7800-992-9392

By Julie Gasway, M.A., CCC-SLP

Trouble at Recess has been ahuge success at home! Jamie wasexcited to see her “finished prod-uct,” as were her parents. Sheread it proudly and was surprisedto see how her drawings havechanged over time. When I asked her

what she thoughtabout the book shesaid, “I like it!” Shealso said the bestthing about makingthe book was “draw-ing the pictures.” Jamie and her par-

ents sched-uled a booksigning for arecent after-noon at thelocal library.They sent outinv i t a t ionsand gave eachperson whoattended anautographedcopy ofTrouble atRecess. They also

took dona-tions so thatevery ele-m e n t a r yschool libraryin our citywill have acopy of herbook. Jamie’sparents have been active in learn-ing about stuttering, and theywent to the Stuttering Foundationwebsite and did their own re-search. They made a “Fact Sheet

about Stuttering” and passedthis out to all who attended thebook signing. Many parentswere surprised to learn: the inci-dence of stuttering is 1-3% ofthe population, many famouspeople stutter, and how to make

a difference when talking withsomeone who stutters.Jamie’s friends and their par-

ents, family members, classmates,neighbors, school teachers andguidance counselor attended thebook signing. She read Trouble atRecess in front of her guests whileshe was surrounded by friends.

Many of the kidscommented that theywanted to write abook too, and in herusual positive mannershe encouraged themto do so. Jamieseemed unaware ofhow rare her accom-

p l i s hmen twas. Sincethe books i g n i n g ,Jamie has re-ceived manycards tellingher that herbook hasbeen helpingother peoplewho stutter.Several par-ents andt e a c h e r swho attend-ed the booksigning re-ported thatteasing is au n i v e r s a ltopic andJ a m i e ’ sbook wouldbe encour-

aging for all children. The booksigning was a chance to cele-brate Jamie’s accomplishment,teach others about stuttering andteasing and to further developJamie’s self-confidence. As a speech therapist this ex-

perience has been especially re-warding and exciting for me. Ilearned more about stuttering,stuttering therapy and how toaccess feelings and thoughtsthrough art and writing. �

Young Author’s Book a Big Success

Jamie, atcenter, readsher book asothers followalong.

Jamie autographs a copy at her booksigning in March.

By Joan Warner

If you haven’t visited the StutteringFoundation’s MySpace page recent-ly, hurry to http://groups.myspace.com/stutteringfoundation and seewhat is new.Managed by our friend, Eva

Woolwine, the space has grownleaps and boundsin just a short timeand now claims144 members.Originally con-

ceived to interestteens and youngadults by providing idea exchangeand support, we have all beenamazed at the level of participationby so many people. “We aren’t just hearing from

teens and young adults, and thathas been a great thing,” Eva tellsus. “People of all ages are checkingin. Each of us may be in a differentplace as far as our fluency and howopen we are about are stuttering,but we have a strong bond that con-nects. Thanks to all the members,without them it would just be apage and not a group!!!”One of the initial goals was to

provide insight, awareness, andeducation to those who do notstutter. Those who stutter gener-ally agree that it is nearly impos-sible to adequately explain to afluent person the difficulty anddepth of emotion involved. A common description shared by

many who stutter is “exhaustion.”One member recently posted,“Most people live day by day, butstutterers live word by word.” So,if you are a parent, relative, teach-er, classmate, employer, or even astranger who spoke with a stutterertoday, please take a few minutes totake a look into what is being saidby those who so want to be heard.Speaking of being heard, another

update on our incredibly busy andgoal-oriented Eva is in order. She isstill studying hard at NorthwesternState University in Alva, Oka. and

MySpace OutgrowsInitial Expectations



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In the winter newsletter weasked readers to guess who wasadded to the Famous Peoplebrochure. The answer, of course,is Darren Sproles. The first three

winners weregiven T-shirts. The winners

are Juanita Siroisof Williamsburg,Va., Julie Petersof Asland, Va., and Linda Wyattof Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.Runners up include Michelle

O’Loughlin, Lisa Burroughs,Paul Blackburn, MarilynBurgin, Mary Eileen Moore,Rita McIntyre, Mike Molini,and Andrew Bathish.


tests of the brain’s activity in pro-cessing language, and studies ofspeech production in which werecord muscle activity and motionof the articulators. The goal of the project is to de-

termine if the results of these testswill help us to predict which 4 and5-year-old children who are stut-tering are likely to persist.One of the speech production

tasks that our kids do involves pro-ducing what we call “novel non-words.” These are words like “mab”which sound OK in English, butwhich are meaningless. We de-signed a set of four nonwords of in-creasing difficulty, so that “mab” isthe easiest one, and “mab-shaytiedoib” isthe most difficult. When we tested

adults who stut-ter, we found thatthey could pro-duce the wordscorrectly afterhearing them, butthey showedmore variabilityin their oral movements, suggest-ing that hearing, encoding, plan-ning, and producing a novel speechsequence was a much more diffi-cult task for them compared to nor-mally fluent adults. Is this lower ability to encode

and produce new sound sequencespresent at the onset of stuttering?Or is it something that developsafter many years of disfluency?Our experiment is designed to an-swer this question.So far in the “mab” nonword

experiment, we have analyzeddata from 22, all 4 and 5-year-old children who stutter (CWS)and 14 children who are normal-ly developing (CND). Interestingly, we found that all

of the children could producethe simplest nonword, "mab"correctly. However, on the moredifficult items, such as “mab-shibe,” only about 25% of theCWS could accurately producethem, while about 88% of the

CND could produce all fournonwords correctly. Clearly in terms of these behav-

ioral results, the children who arestuttering do not do as well whenasked to produce novel speech se-quences. During the nonword experi-

ment, we record the motions ofthe lips and jaw. We are able tolook at oral coordination duringproduction of the novel non-words. We analyzed data for thenonword, "mab" since all thechildren could produce it. Givenhow simple and short this non-word is, we did not expect thatCWS would be less able to gen-erate a motor program and pro-duce it. Surprisingly though,CWS were significantly more

variable com-pared to CND intheir coordina-tive patternsover 10 produc-tions of “mab.” Thus, we can

see that already,in the earliestyears of stutter-

ing, even when the child's pro-duction is accurate and no dis-fluency is perceived, the under-lying patterns of speech move-ment are different. Are the chil-dren who perform most poorlyon this nonword repetition taskthe ones most likely to persist instuttering? We will be able to an-swer that question in the lateryears of our project. We are truly excited about the

potential for this work to havemajor implications for treatingyoung children who stutter. If you know of someone who

has a child who stutters and livesin our area (Lafayette, Indiana),please ask them to contact us [email protected]. �

... the goal is to predict which

children who are stuttering are likely

to persist.

Sporty Readers Win

Smith continued front page 1

T he Stuttering Foundation of America is atax-exempt organization under section501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code

and is classified as a private operating foundationas defined in section 4942(j)(3). Charitable contri-butions and bequests to the Foundation are tax-deductible, subject to limitations under the Code.

Camp Our Time will be heldAug. 10-17, 2008. It is an artscamp for young people whostutter and their siblings, ages8-15. Camp Our Time will takeplace in Rock Hill, N.Y., 90minutes from New York City. For more information call

212-414-9696, e-mail [email protected], or visitwww.ourtimetheatre.org. �

Actor Nick Brendon has land-ed a recurring ruleon the CBS dramaCriminal Minds,playing KevinLynch, a technicalanalyst for the FBI. Brendon, who’s

a spokesperson forthe Stuttering Foundation, is alsoworking on Super Cat, an ani-mated project in which he voicesthe lead character.Visit www.nickbrendon.com

for more news on the actor.

Where’s Nick?


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a relatively high degree of atten-tional focus and risk-taking whileparticipating in therapy, and mayactively seek out novel experi-ences while also being more apt totake risks in both social andspeaking situations. The willing-ness and ability to take risks haslong been considered a trait im-portant to progress across alltypes of therapies (Yalom, 2002).It is my hope that future researchwill focus on how temperamentand other client and clinician at-tributes interact with the tech-niques we teach to influence theoutcome of stuttering therapy.

References:Arnold, H., Conture, E., & Walden, T.

(2004). Relation of temperamentalcharacteristics to picture-naming prac-tice effects in children who stutter:Preliminary findings. Poster presentedat the annual meeting of the AmericanSpeech-Language-Hearing Association,Philadelphia, PA. Seligman, M (2002). Authentic happi-

ness: Using the new positive psycholo-gy to realize your potential for lastingfulfillment. Free Press. Wampold, B.E., Mondin, G.W.,

Moody M., Stich, F., Benson, K. &Ahn, H. (1997). A meta-analysis ofoutcome studies comparing bona fidepsychotherapies: Empirically, “allmust have prizes.” PsychologicalBulletin, 122, 203-215.Yalom, I. (2002). The Gift of

Therapy. New York: Perennial; HarperCollins. �

By Robert J. Heemstra Plymouth, Pa.

Sometimes I stutter people may look at me strangebut do they know me?

They hear my stutterbut I am much more than thatPlease listen to me

Please don’t look awayBecause of my stutteringDon’t judge me by that ... �

Sometimes I Stutter

Signature strengths continued from page 3

By Joan Warner

The Stuttering Foundation wasexcited to hear from students inSan Diego, Calif.“We are a group of students whostutter at Southwest High School inbeautiful San Diego, Calif.,” thestudents wrote. “Our group is com-posed of fivestudents (allb i l i n g u a l )whose stutter-ing rangesfrom mild tomoderate-se-vere. We gettogether fre-quently to dis-cuss our stut-tering andways to controlit. We havealso done a se-ries of presen-tations with thepurpose of ed-ucating ourschool regard-ing stuttering.We would liketo reach out toall people whostutter and tell them that theyshould not be ashamed of onesmall part of themselves, but beproud of who they are and whatthey can achieve.”These five teens are worth re-marking on for a number of rea-sons – all of which are “ingredi-ents” in the recipe for confidence.In their own words, Andres,Fernando, Irvin, Adrian andChristian, tell us, “We are a groupof students who stutter … Ourgroup rendezvous once everyweek to discuss how stuttering hasaffected us recently (in either apositive or negative way).” Butthey don’t stop there, talkingamong themselves. “Our grouphas presented several times to highschool students (and once each tothe school district’s speech pathol-ogists, psychologists, and supportstaff) what stuttering is and how it

has affected our lives.”Bob McKinney, LSH Specialistfor Southwest High School, has hada great deal to do with encouragingthis group of students to inspire andmotivate not only themselves, butalso others. “These guys are excit-ed … They are a great group ofguys, and I’m proud to be able to

work withthem,” Bobtells us. “I amalways amazedat the maturitythey showwhen they dis-cuss their stut-tering withtheir peers,” hecontinued.

“All ourlives we’ve hadto overcomeridicule, em-barrassment,and despera-tion, but beingin this group,we’ve learnedto accept, andto be proud ofwho we are.”They go on to

say, “We are no different than any-one else besides the fact that it takestime to say what we want to say.”On a recent field trip, the guysmade their presentation to a groupof school district psychologists. Itafforded this group of profession-als the opportunity to receive a re-alistic and heart-felt “lesson” on aoften misunderstood disability. So, what is in the “recipe” for con-fidence? Apparently, some verysolid ingredients including support,encouragement, perseverance, ma-turity, inspiration, motivation, and adash of being proud of one’s ac-complishments. In the boys’words, “We believe that confidenceis the best cure for stuttering.” Please see their exceptional pre-sentation at:http://blog.suhsd.k12.ca.us/index.php?/specialservices/detail/stut-tering_presentation/ �

A Recipe for Confidence

These students from Southwest HighSchool in San Diego, Calif., meet fre-quently to discuss stuttering and howto control it. They have also done aseries of presentations to educateother students about stuttering. Thestudents are (from left) Fernando,Irvin, Adrian, Andres, and Christian.


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Help Not Lostin Translation


Foundation of America memorialfund has been established inhonor and memory of Dr. RichardF. Curlee.Among his peers, Dr Curlee was

known for hisev e n - h a n d e d ,precise andthoughtful schol-arship. Curleewas well regard-ed for his earlyscholarly at-tempts to applyand/or test thetenets of learningtheory relative tostuttering re-search/treatment.These ahead-of-their-time schol-arly contributionswere followed byseveral text-books, aptly described by Dr.Ingham as classic, treatises thathave stood the test of time in termsof relevance and impact. Dr.Curlee remains, to this day, one ofthe first to apply “expert system”technology to the diagnosis ofearly childhood stuttering, anothercontribution far ahead of its time. Recently, this writer was fortu-

nate to co-edit the third edition ofone of Dick’s books, and the ex-perience of working with Dr.Curlee, his insights, wordsmithskills, and common sense en-riched literally almost every pageof the text. Common sense, it issaid, is not all that common, butDick possessed it in droves andits use by him could be truly re-markable as he quickly identifiedthe essence of a problem and,more often than not, a reasonablesolution for same. Dick’s character, one could rea-

sonably say, was at least partiallyshaped by his experience with dis-ability, a concern he adapted toand rose above to lead a life ofconsequence, substance and pur-pose. That character coupled withhis “don’t complain, don’t ex-plain” personal style – even whenhis disability gave him plenty of

cause to do so – no doubt con-tributed to the many students whosought his advice, counsel, andmentoring. A mentor’s mentor,Dr. Curlee acted like a bridge, formany students, seeing in themmore than they saw in themselves,

taking themfrom where theywere to wherethey couldand/or wanted tobe.

S u r v ive dby his lovelywife and soulmate, Jennie,Dick will bemissed terriblyby his family,friends, col-leagues, and pasts t u d e n t s .Building off atheme developedby Dr. Spahr at

Dick’s memorial service, Dr.Curlee may be gone from ourmidst, but we will be reminded ofhim in our daily lives. For exam-ple, when we see some beginningscholar falter during a presentationand their mentor, just like Dickmight have, makes a gentle sug-gestion from the audience to helpthe nervous beginner. Or whentwo academicians lock horns, overtheory or method, and a third,cooler head like Dick’s often was,steps in and brings about rap-prochement. For Dick was not only a gen-

tleman and scholar but routinelypracticed random acts of kind-ness. Indeed, Dick’s high qualitycontributions were not restrictedto his scholarly endeavors, butalso imprinted his interpersonalinteractions. As Shakespeare(Merchant of Venice) noted,“the quality of mercy is notstrain’d, it droppeth as the gen-tle rain from heaven. Upon theplace beneath: it is twice blest;It blesseth him that gives andhim that takes.” And Dick wasso blessed, as were we, by hispresence.“Farewell Richard, may flights

of angels sing thee to thy rest.” �

Chinese parents now have an-other tool if their child stutters.Jennifer Tseng, who attended

the 2005 Stuttering Foundationworkshop inIowa, wenthome deter-mined to helpbring new infor-mation to newcompatriots.This new

book, a transla-tion of If YourChild Stutters:A Guide forParents, is hotoff the press and is sure to be animportant prevention tool.Meanwhile, in the Czech

Republic, Dr. ElisabethPeutelschmiedova continues heroutstanding work translatingStuttering Foundation books.Her latest achievement is Do

You Stutter: Straight Talk forTeens. �

Dick Curlee receives the MalcolmFraser Award for Excellence fromJane Fraser in 2002.

JenniferTseng

Curlee continued from page 4

� Chinesecopy of IfYour ChildStutters.

� Czech version of Do You Stutter:Straight Talk for Teens.


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A: Before Rocket Science cameout, I read some hilariously nega-tive stuff on stuttering boardswhere some people worked them-selves into a froth imagining onthe basis ofjust the 2minute trailerthat the leadc h a r a c t e rdidn’t have areal stutter,that this wasyet anotherbogus por-trait of stut-tering andthat they’dskip themovie. I getit that peopleare sensitiveabout this butwhat about waiting until you’veactually seen the movie beforejudging it? Luckily for me, I thinkmost stutterers who actually see itreally like it.

Q: What has been the reaction ofyour childhood friends and peersto the movie, and to you after itsrelease?A: One old friend said, I had noidea it was so hard for you.Another said, I didn’t realize itwas all so funny to you at the time.So you just never know. But thetruth of it is that the movie is onlyvaguely autobiographical. It’s notmeant to be the literal truth of mylife as a teen, just an artful extrap-olation from that.

Q: If you could give a simple mes-sage to high school kids who stut-ter, what would it be?A: Sometimes you want to cut outthose parts of yourself that arefrustrating or painful or make youdifferent. But those parts are as re-sponsible as the good and easy isfor who you are. Stuttering makesyou who you are and it can inspiresome great things. It’s because ofstuttering that I got involved in de-bate, that I developed a passion

for words and reading, that Ifound myself drawn into thepower of film. I am who I am be-cause of my stuttering and I’m fi-nally very glad for that. Whenyou’re blocking on a word, youwish it gone. But when you step

back andlook at thebig picturethere aresome greatthings thatcome alongwith stutter-ing.

Q: Do youan t i c ipa tedoing anym o r emovies withcharacterswho stutter?

A: I think my next movies won’tbe autobiographical at all so Idon’t have plans to revisit that.But you never know.

Q: What do you think of treat-ment for stuttering ?A: Well, in the movie, Hal Hefner,my main character, gets no real helpfor his stuttering. I have been luckyenough to work with some excellentpeople and have made some gains inmy speech because of them. I knowthat some people believe that youshould just work to accept stutteringand not try to “fix” it. That’s neverbeen my approach. I’m kind of aborn fighter when it comes to thisstuff, and I like trying to lick a prob-lem even if it’s thought to be unlick-able. I think most anything's attain-able if you’re dedicated enough. �

A scene from the movie Rocket Science.

Now available on DVD:Rocket Science, which received 3

1/2 stars from movie criticRoger Ebert, is nowavailable on DVD.The release includes abehind-the-scenes fea-turette, as well as a

music video by film’scomposer and singer/songwriterEef Barzelay (Clem Snide).

Bob Love’s national schooltour moves ahead.The tour includes showing

students Love’s documentaryFind Yourself a Dream! The docu-

mentary wasrecently ac-cepted intothe SanDiego BlackFilm Festivaland the screenplay for themovie was ac-cepted into theBeverly HillsFilm Festival,which was held in mid-April. The documentary was re-

cently featured on WYCC, aPBS station in Chicago.WYCC promoted it with morethan 100 commercials leadingup to each of the showings.The PBS station reaches 3.6million in the country’s thirdlargest TV market.Love has served as a

spokesperson for the StutteringFoundation, and is featured onthe Famous People Who Stutterbrochure and poster.The documentary can be or-

dered online at www.findyourselfadream.com. �

Dream TeamTours USA

Rocket Science continued from page 5

This poignant book, written byKimberly Fusco, for middle and highschool students features 14-year oldCornelia Thornhill. Cornelia’s adven-tures start not only when her motherpulls her out of school butalso leaves her high anddry with an elderly great-aunt in rural NewEngland of all places.Readers will be capti-vated by Cornelia’scourage as she struggleswith her own stuttering and copeswith an upside down life. �


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Tuesday. It really helps me. Mrs.Miller helps me ease out of a stutter.I’m still learning. I’ve only been

to the speech room about 12 times.I hope to learn how to tell peopleabout my stuttering.JessicaLargo, Fla. �


However, Vivian taught me thatwe could develop a valid under-standing of that experience bylistening carefully to our clients andpaying attention to our “stutteringequivalent,” something about our-selves we wish to hide to avoid po-tential negativethoughts or reac-tions of others.Vivian’s sharpmind and wonder-ful sense of humordelighted herfriends and col-leagues. We cele-brated the manythings we had incommon. One dayshe told me, “No,we are not people who stutter”, andthen with a wink and a smile contin-ued, “We just marry them!” Vivianwas married to the late JosephSheehan, professor of psychology atU.C.L.A. and father of avoidance re-duction therapy for stuttering. Vivianworked with Joseph at the U.C.L.A.Speech Psychology Clinic until hisdeath in 1983. She continued theirwork as director of the SheehanStuttering Center well into her 80’s. Vivian completed her graduate

studies at the University ofMichigan and worked in the BattleCreek schools during the day and atPercy Jones Army Hospital in theevenings. It was during World WarII, and soldiers were returning frombattle with brain injuries. Vivianscoured the medical literature to de-velop what became the first aphasiarehabilitation program in the U.S.Army Hospital system. It was atPercy Jones where Vivian met herfuture husband, Joseph Sheehan, ayoung speech pathologist who be-

came part of her growing staff.Joseph accepted a faculty positionin the psychology department atU.C.L.A. and the Sheehan’s movedto Santa Monica, California whereshe began one of the first privatepractices in the country. Vivian’s pi-oneering work in aphasia contin-ued. She founded an organization

that later becamethe EmeritusP a t h f i n d e r sProgram at SantaMonica College,providing rehabil-itative servicesand support tostroke patientsand their families.Vivian received

prestigious honorsthroughout her ca-

reer. She was named an ASHAFellow in 1986 and was the recipi-ent of ASHA’s Frank R. KleffnerClinical Career Award in 1993. Shewas honored numerous times by theCalifornia Speech Language andHearing Association, the AmericanAcademy of Private Practice, andthe National Stuttering Association.She was elected to serve in leader-ship positions within all of theabove-mentioned organizations. Vivian’s contributions went far

beyond her stellar record of clini-cal work and service to the profes-sion and the community. She in-spired clinicians young and oldwith her wisdom and skill, and hasbeen cited as the primary force forchange among her clients whohave recovered from stuttering. Vivian was my dear friend and

mentor. I will never forget herwarm smile, encouraging words,and wonderful sense of humor. Iwill always be grateful to her forher guidance and love. �

“Vivian’s contributionswent far beyond

her stellar record ofclinical work and service to the profession and the community.”

Vivian Sisskin

We know our readers will besurprised to learn of two recentretirements.Both Roberta Brugge and Anne

Edwards havedecided thetime has cometo enjoy moreleisure timeand grand-motherhood!Callers will

r e m e m b e rAnne whobegan workingat the StutteringFoundation inthe early1980’s whenwe were ad-dressing en-velopes byhand. She hadworked as a li-brarian so wast r emendoushelp as we pub-lished more andmore books.For 12 years,

Roberta was our Wednesday part-timer, taking over thank you lettersto donors and keeping the mailinglist updated.We call on them regularly for

advice and help! �

On the Loose

Anne Edwards

RobertaBrugge

Sheehan continued from page 4

Because of the ongoing supportof NSSLHA chapters around thecountry, theStut ter ingFoundationis able toprovide re-sources tothose whostutter, parents, schools, libraries,universities and physicians.NSSLHA chapters have done ev-

erything from bake sales to workingthe SFA booth at conferences to helpraise the awareness of stuttering.We appreciate it. Thanks!

Thanks for the Support

Letters continued from page 6The Eighth Oxford Dysfluency

Conference, co-sponsored by the StutteringFoundation and the Michael Palin Centre,

will be at St. Catherine’s College,Oxford, July 3-6. Speakers includePaul Dolan, Imperial College, MarcShell, Harvard University, Patricia

Zebrowski, University of Iowa, Anne Smith,Purdue University, and Dr. Per Alm, DanishInformation Centre for Stuttering. Visitwww.odc.org.uk. �

Dysfluency Conference


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National Stuttering AwarenessWeek, which is May 12-18. The brochure — which un-

folds into a small poster — isavailable freeof charge fromthe StutteringFoundation. Sproles is fea-

tured alongsideother sports leg-ends who stutter,such as BillWalton, KenyonMartin, KenVenturi and BobLove. As such, heis the 18th famousperson. Others in-clude actor JamesEarl Jones,Marilyn Monroeand WinstonChurchill.Sproles, who

became aware ofhis stuttering atage 4, says theproblem becamemore pro-nounced whenhe was a starfootball player atOlathe NorthHigh School andat Kansas StateUniversity. “I had to talk tothe media a lot,and once theyput a camera inmy face that’swhen it got bad,”Sproles said. “Ijust had to workon it. I couldn’treally stressabout it, becausethat’s just me.”The 24-year

old Sproles continues to takesteps to control his stuttering. Hebypassed potential NFL richesfollowing his junior season andreturned to Kansas State to com-plete his degree in speech pathol-

ogy. In college, he worked with aspeech pathologist to make inter-views less difficult. Darren alsogot advice from basketball greatBill Walton, who struggled withstuttering some years ago and is

now an NBA analyst.“I don’t have to be in a hurry to

say something,” said Sproles,who learned to take his timewhile answering questions dur-ing an interview.

Coming out of Kansas State,Sproles was one of the most pro-lific runners and all-purpose per-formers in college football histo-ry. He set nearly every schoolrecord imaginable - 23 in all - and

he is regarded bymany as the bestplayer in the 110-year history ofKansas StatefootballAs a 5-foot, 6-

inch runningback and returnspecialist withthe Chargers, heranks eighth inthe NFL in kick-off return aver-age (26.7 yards)and 13th in puntreturn average(10.1).

Playing thegame has alwayscome easy forSproles. Thespoken word ismore difficult.“I remember a

long time ago mygrandpa told me“don’t ever letanybody tell youthat you can’t doanything becauseyou stutter.”Sproles said. “Ialways remem-bered that andworked hard toimprove myspeech.” “Darren Sproleswill be a greatsource of inspi-ration to youngpeople whostruggle withstuttering,” saysJane Fraser, pres-

ident of the StutteringFoundation. She notes thatspeech therapists, school clini-cians, teachers and others oftenhang the posters in a prominentplace in their office. �

Q&AAn interview with Darren Sproles Q: TV interviews are high pressure. In a previous interviewwith a newspaper, you said you found "little tricks" to con-trol stuttering. What are someof the tools that work for you?A: “I have learned to take mytime while answering questionsduring an interview. I don’thave to be in a hurry to saysomething. I also ... keep mywords flowing.”

Q: Why did you put off theNFL and go back to college?A: “I didn’t want to do it but Imade a promise to my motherbefore she passed away that Iwill finish school first and then go to the NFL.”

Q: The fact that you majored in speech pathology is very ex-citing. Why did you choose it as a major? Has it made a dif-ference in your speech?A: “When I went to college I majored in speech pathologybecause I really wanted to learn about stuttering and how Ican better my speech. I feel from me learning about it helpedme find tools to help me out.”

Q:What advice would you give others who stutter?A: “Just work on it. Take classes and learn more about wherestuttering comes from. I remember a long time ago mygrandpa told me ‘don’t ever let anybody tell you that youcan’t do anything because you stutter.’ I always rememberedthat and worked hard at improving my speech.”

Q: Do you see yourself as an inspiration and role model forothers who stutter?A: “Yes, I do.”

Q:What advice did Bill Walton give you?A: “Take my time when I talk. Don’t be in a hurry.”

Sproles continued from page 1


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National Stuttering AwarenessWeek is May 12-18.There are many ways to cele-

brate it, educate others, and be-come involved.�Ask your local radio station torun the Stuttering Foundation’spublic service ads.

�Encourage your newspaper todo a story on stuttering.�Maybe you can set up a displayof Stuttering Foundation re-sources at your library.�Send us pictures of how you cel-ebrated National StutteringAwareness Week. E-mail us [email protected] Stuttering Foundation can

provide public service ads andother resources to newspapersand TV and radio stations. �

This newsletter is published quarterly.Please e-mail address changes andstory ideas to [email protected].

Volume17, Issue 2Jane Fraser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EditorScot Squires . . . . . . . . . . Writer/DesignerRenee Shepherd . . . . . . . . . . ProofreaderSpecial thanks to Joan Warner, Patty Reed,Susie Hall, Pat Hamm, Lisa Hinton, AnneEdwards, Terri Jones, and Carol Ecke.

3100 Walnut Grove Road, Suite 603P.O. Box 11749 • Memphis, TN 38111-0749


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PAIDMEMPHIS, TNPERMIT # 2078


National StutteringAwareness Week

May 12-18

In May 1988, the U.S. Congress passed a JointResolution designating thesecond week ofMay as NationalStutteringAwareness Week.

Help Spread the Word about Stuttering Talk about StutteringStutterTalk is a self-help styledaudio podcast that can be down-loaded directly from www.stuttertalk.com or via iTunes. Greg Snyder, Ph.D., PeterReitzes, CCC-SLP and EricJackson co-host the show whichfeaturesweekly,o p e ndiscus-s i o n sa b o u tstutter-ing. Topics have included how,why and when to use voluntarystuttering, stuttering openly(avoiding avoidance), covert stut-tering, relapse, non-verbal formsof stuttering and much more. Listeners join the show by call-ing in or emailing. Special guestshave included Kristin Chmela,MA, CCC-SLP who discussedrecovery from shame, JosephKlein, Ph.D. who shared histhoughts about job interviews,Dennis Drayna, Ph.D. who talkedabout gene research, Ken St.Louis, Ph.D. who spoke aboutliving with stuttering and clutter-ing, and Taro Alexander who dis-cussed the Our Time TheatreCompany which is an artistichome for people who stutter. Tune in and join the conversa-tion online! �

working toward her degree in ele-mentary education. In early February she competed in

the Miss Northwestern pageant,where a 2nd runner up place earnedEva “…a great experience and a nicescholarship!” Eva has also recentlyqualified in preliminaries for MissKansas and will return to the pageant

this summer as Miss Emerald City. Eva is just one of many real people

you will meet on SFA’s MySpace. Whether you are a person who

stutters or not, you will see we areall much the same: people withdreams, goals, accomplishments;someone’s friend, mother, orbrother; someone waiting to beheard, someone’s hero. Comecheck us out! �

MySpace continued from page 7


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