Contemporary clinical conversations about stuttering: Neurodiversity and ableism

Rosalee Shenker; Naomi Rodgers; Barry Guitar; Mark Onslow

doi:10.1016/j.jfludis.2023.106014

Contemporary clinical conversations about stuttering: Neurodiversity and ableism

J Fluency Disord. 2023 Dec:78:106014. doi: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2023.106014. Epub 2023 Sep 19.

Authors

Rosalee Shenker¹, Naomi Rodgers², Barry Guitar³, Mark Onslow⁴

Affiliations

¹ Private Practice, Montreal, Canada.
² University of Iowa, Communication Sciences and Disorders, IA, USA.
³ University of Vermont, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Vermont, USA.
⁴ University of Technology Sydney, Australian Stuttering Research Centre, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: Mark.Onslow@uts.edu.au.

PMID: 37769595
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2023.106014

Abstract

Purpose: To discuss issues about neurodiversity and ableism, and how they pertain to clinical management of stuttering, with particular reference to early childhood stuttering.

Methods: During a webinar this year, the issue emerged of how concepts of neurodiversity and ableism apply to early childhood stuttering during the pre-school years. It became apparent that this topic elicited disparate views and would be of particular interest to students of speech-language pathology. Consequently, the leaders of that webinar continued the conversation by written dialogue for the purpose of placing it on record.

Results: The discussants reached agreement on many points, but there was some diversity of viewpoint about how neurodiversity and ableism should apply to clinical practice with children who have recently begun to stutter.

Keywords: Ableism; Neurodiversity; Stuttering; Treatment.

MeSH terms

Child
Child, Preschool
Communication
Humans
Social Discrimination
Speech-Language Pathology*
Students
Stuttering* / diagnosis
Stuttering* / therapy