People Who Stutter Changing Careers To Become SLPs
by Darrell Dodge (Colorado, USA), Louise Heite (Iceland), Lucy Reed (Pennsylvania, USA), and Gert Reunes (Belgium)
The following panelists have written about their personal experience as persons who stutter, pursuing a degree in speech-language pathology as a second career. After you have read their papers, they are willing to discuss their experience with participants in the ISAD conference.
- Explaining My Brilliant New Career by Darrell Dodge (Colorado, USA). Darrell Dodge is a person who stutters who is a Masters degree candidate in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He created and manages the National Stuttering Project's Web site; leads the NSP's Denver Chapter; and operates an Internet Web development and hosting business. He returned to school after a varied and successful 25-year career in advertising, technical editing, and research project management. A big inspiration for his career change was his speech therapy with Dr. Peter Ramig, a professor at CU. He holds an MA in English Literature from the University of Cincinnati, was awarded the American Wind Energy Association's "Federal Award" in 1996, and was named "Member of the Year" by the NSP in 1998.
- Around the Block Again by Louise B. Heite (Iceland) Louise Heite is from Seydisfjord, Iceland. She holds a doctorate in history and an Icelandic teaching certificate. She is presently enrolled as a graduate student in the Communication Sciences department at Temple University. She has presented papers on stuttering at the NSP conference in New York and the ELSA conference in Ireland. She is the webmaster for the Icelandic Stuttering Association and ELSA, the European League of Stuttering Associations.
- Changing Career Paths by Lucy Reed (New Jersey, USA). Lucy Reed is an SLP student at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA., who hopes to become a stuttering specialist. She is founder and president of the New Jersey Chapter of the National Stuttering Association and serves as a regional coordinator.
- A Stutterer as Speech Therapist, the Right Man at the Right Place? by Gert Reunes (Belgium). Gert Reunes is the chair of the Belgian Stuttering Association, vzw BeSt (Belangengroep Stotteraars) as well as involved with the 6th World Congress for Stutterers to be held in Belgium in 2001. Gert is 37 years old and graduated with a degree in electronics. He has worked in multi-cinema complexes and organized group events such as film nights, parties, etc. Five years ago he and nine others began vzw BeSt. He has been in therapy for stuttering for twenty years but when he reached age 32 felt that his speech hadn't changed. Currently he feels he has had some success using a therapy based on singing. He is in his fourth year of study at the University of Ghent to become a speech-language pathologist. His current research interests are in the long-term use and effectiveness of DAF.
