Office Hours: The Professor is In

The following professionals have agreed to serve as a panel to answer appropriately-posed questions about stuttering. This is especially designed as a good opportunity for parents of children who stutter, and for children, teens, and for adults who stutter to ask questions of several highly qualified specialists in the area of stuttering. Please do not use this forum to develop on-going discussion about various topics.

	Marybeth Allen M.A., CCC-SLP, BRS-FD is a person who stutters, an SLP, and a member of the initial cadre of Board Recognized Fluency Specialists. She is on faculty of the University of Maine as a clinical educator and lecturer, and also works as a private practitioner, specializing in fluency disorders. Marybeth is on the Board of Directors of the National Stuttering Association and leads the Eastern Maine Chapter of the NSA.
	Barbara J. Amster, PhD, CCC/SLP is the founding Director of La Salle University's graduate and undergraduate programs in Speech-Language-Hearing Science. She has more than 30 years of clinical experience and holds Specialty Board Recognition in Fluency Disorders. Her master's degree is from the University of Pittsburgh and her doctorate from Temple University. She is an ASHA Fellow. She has published on the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for people who stutter, as well as the speech-language development of young children in foster care.
	Klaas Bakker, Ph.D./CCC-SLP, associated with Missouri State University since 1990; specializes in fluency disorders; research focus on fluency disorders (assessment and diagnostic evaluation of cluttering and stuttering); develops new technologies for the assessment and measurement of clinical aspects of speech (dys)fluency; Associate Editor for the Journal of Fluency Disorders; Chair of the Website development for the International Cluttering Association.
	Toni Cilek M.A., CCC-SLP, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Iowa, completed her B.S. and M.A. at the University of Iowa in 1975 and 1976. She worked as a speech language pathologist at various school districts through the Grant Wood Area Education Agency in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for 8 years. Since 1983, Toni has been a clinical professor at the University of Iowa. Her expertise is in the area of stuttering assessment and treatment, with responsibilities including training graduate students in didactic and clinical environments. Programs include intensive treatment, outpatient treatment and evaluation, school outreach assessment, group intervention, counseling and consultation for clients who stutter.
	Dennis Drayna, serves as Chief of the Section on Systems Biology of Communication Disorders at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a division of the U.S. Public Health Service. Dr. Drayna received his Bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1976, and his PhD in Genetics at Harvard University in 1981. He performed postdoctoral research at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Utah, after which he spent 12 years in the biotechnology industry in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1996 he joined the NIH, where his research is focused on genetics of human communication disorders. Dr. Drayna serves on the Board of Directors of the Stuttering Foundation of America, and has a long standing interest in understanding the underlying causes of stuttering.
	Kevin Eldridge Ph.D., began working with people who stutter and their families 20 years ago. He received recognition as a Board Recognized Specialist in 1999, and currently serves as Vice-chair of the Specialty Board on Fluency Disorders. Kevin is in private practice working exclusively with people who stutter and their families. Kevin, along with friend and colleague Michael Retzinger, recently developed a treatment program that combines a 5-day small group therapy experience with 8 months of follow up using teletherapy. (keldridgephd@gmail.com)
	Diane Games M.A. is a licensed and certified Speech-Language Pathologist and co-owner of Tri-County Speech Associates, Inc. a private practice in the Cincinnati area. She is a Board Recognized Specialist in Fluency Disorders and part of the Initial Cadre of fluency specialists. Professional activities have included the presidency of the Ohio Speech-Language-Hearing Association and honors of OSLHA in 1994. She also teaches a graduate level course in Fluency and Fluency Disorders at Miami University. She has presented several workshops on the treatment of fluency disorders and has coordinated the Fluency Friday Plus project in the Cincinnati area for the last ten years.
	Jennifer Kleinow is an Associate Professor at La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA. She received her B.A. in psychology at the University of Michigan, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in audiology and speech sciences at Purdue University. Her primary research interests include investigations of the interaction between cognitive-linguistic variables and speech motor control, particularly in adults and children who stutter.
	Judith Kuster M.S. in speech-language pathology and M.S. in counseling, is an ASHA Fellow and professor of Communication Disorders at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She is the webmaster for the Stuttering Home Page as well as the coordinator of this online conference. She holds Specialty Recognition in Stuttering and is a member of the Division #4: Fluency and Fluency Disorders. She is the recipient of the ASHF DiCarlo Award for Outstanding Clinical Achievement, the 2003 Distinguished Contributor Award from the International Fluency Association. a 2007 Outstanding Contribution Award from the International Stuttering Association, the 2008 ASHA Distinguished Contributor Award, and in 2009 named to the National Stuttering Association's Hall of Fame.
	Lisa LaSalle Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a Board Recognized Specialist in Fluency Disorders and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders where sh teaches fluency disorders, phonetics, counseling, research procedures and voice and resonance coursework, and supervises undergraduate and graduate clinicians who work with clients with fluency disorders. Dr. LaSalle also has a private practice and experience with direct clinical services. Dr. LaSalle has published numerous articles on the topic of childhood stuttering, and recently co-presented with Dr. Lesley Wolk on the topic of cluttering at the 2009 International Fluency Association Congress.
	Nathan E. Lavid, M.D., Long Beach, California, is clinical and forensic psychiatrist in private practice. He is a former faculty member at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. He has presented at professional conferences on stuttering and authored a book on stuttering, Understanding Stuttering for the University Press of Mississippi, 2003.
	Kenneth Logan, Ph.D., CCC/SLP is a member of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Florida, where he teaches, conducts research, and supervises clinical activities related to fluency disorders. He has presented many papers and authored a number of articles that deal with the nature and treatment of stuttering.
	Richard Mallard is a consultant for the Seguin Independent School District, Seguin, Texas. He manages all the children who stutter in that district in addition to developing parent-based home programs for children of all ages regardless of communication problem. His bachelor's and master's degrees are from the University of North Texas and his Ph.D. is from Purdue University. He worked professionally in the Alvin, Texas Independent School District and was on the faculties at Eastern Illinois, Purdue, Vanderbilt, and Texas State University where he retired in 2006. Dr. Mallard is a Fellow of ASHA and holds Specialty Recognition in Fluency Disorders from the Clinical Specialty Board of ASHA. Dr. Mallard and his wife, Nancy, are the parents of two grown sons and enjoy biking and gardening, respectively, as well as their two grandchildren.
	Walter Manning, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a professor and Associate Dean in the School of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology at The University of Memphis. He teaches courses in fluency disorders and research methods. He has published more than 60 articles in a variety of professional journals and has presented on many occasions to regional, national, and international meetings. He is author of the text Clinical decision making in the diagnosis and treatment of fluency disorders. He is a fellow of ASHA and has received the honors of Tennessee Association of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists. He holds Specialty Certification in fluency disorders from the Specialty Board on Fluency Disorders.
	Charlie Osborne is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point, Wisconsin where he teaches the fluency disorders course and other courses, supervises in clinic, and provides clinical services at St. Michael's Hospital in Stevens Point. He is a member of ASHA's Fluency and Fluency Disorders Special Interest Division and of the International Fluency Association. He has worked with children and adults who stutter for over twenty years.
	Scott Palasik, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Assistant Professor and director of the Mindfulness Behaviors and Social Cognition Stuttering Lab (MASS) at the University of Southern Mississippi. He graduated from Bowling Green State University with his PhD (specializing in Fluency disorders) and completed both his BS and MS from Syracuse University in Communication Disorders. In between his MS and PhD, Scott spent seven years around Chicago as a Speech-Language Pathologist services children and adults in schools and nursing facilities.
	Nan Bernstein Ratner, Ed.D., C.C.C. is Professor and Chair, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland at College Park. She is the editor of numerous volumes, and author of numerous chapters and articles addressing language acquisition and fluency in children. Dr. Ratner currently serves as Co-editor of Seminars in Speech and Language.She is a frequently-invited presenter at state, national and international speech, language and hearing association meetings. Dr. Ratner is an ASHA fellow, was a member of the original cadre of Board Recognized Fluency Specialists, and received the 2006 Distinguished Research Award from the International Fluency Association.
	Sheree Reese, Ph.D., CCC/SLP, teaches at Kean University in New Jersey since 1996 after working as a clinician in a variety of hospital settings for over 20 years. Prior to coming to Kean, she was Director of Speech and Hearing Services at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair, N.J. Dr. Reese is the Director of the Speech and Hearing Clinic at Kean. Her primary area of expertise is stuttering, and she is currently a Board Certified Fluency Specialist.
	Gary Rentschler, Ph.D. CCC.SLP is Clinic Director in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he directs the Adult and Adolescent Stuttering Program. A board-recognized Fluency Specialist, Gary also was recognized as Speech-Language Pathologist of the Year 2002 by the National Stuttering Association.
	Jean Sawyer, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is an assistant professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Illinois State University. Dr. Sawyer teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in fluency and counseling, and has developed two online courses devoted to working with preschool and school-age children who stutter. She serves as co-chapter leader of a local group of the National Stuttering Association. Her research is in clinical measures of stuttering, the distribution of disfluencies in stuttered speech, and treatment of stuttering in preschool children.
	Rosalee C. Shenker, Ph.D is Executive Director of the Montreal Fluency Centre, and a charter member of the Lidcombe Program Training Consortium. She coordinates clinical training for this program in North America and has provided presentations, workshops and mentoring to countless clinicians. Rosalee has contributed to the literature with many articles and book chapters. Interest includes school age children treated with the Lidcombe Program and the use of the Lidcombe Program in the general population.
	Kenneth St. Louis, Ph.D, professor at West Virginia University, is a mostly recovered stutterer. He has focused his entire career on fluency disorders with the primary goal of helping people who stutter. His work setting has been in higher education, where he has supervised graduate students doing therapy with stuttering and cluttering, taught courses in fluency disorders, and carried out research in stuttering and cluttering. St. Louis is a Board Recognized Specialist and Mentor in Fluency Disorders and author of Living With Stuttering: Stories, Resources, Basics, and Hope. He was awarded the first Deso Weiss Award for Excellence in Cluttering, which recognizes the international contribution of an individual to understanding about cluttering.
	David A. Shapiro, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a Fellow of ASHA, a Board Recognized Fluency Specialist, and the Robert Lee Madison Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, USA. In his fourth decade of providing clinical services for people who stutter and their families, Dr. Shapiro is a regular presenter at state, national, and international conferences. His book, Stuttering Intervention: A Collaborative Journey to Fluency Freedom (PRO-ED), is finding a wide international audience. Dr. Shapiro is the 2006 recipient of the International Fluency Association's Award of Distinction for Outstanding Clinician. He is a person who stutters, has two children with his wife, Kay, and lives in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.
	Lynne Shields, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is currently a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Communication Disorders Dept. at Fontbonne University, St. Louis, MO. where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses and supervises in on-campus clinic. She teaches in the areas of fluency, language disorders, and counseling. She holds Specialty Certification in fluency disorders from the Specialty Board on Fluency Disorders.
	Ellen-Marie Silverman, TSS-The Speech Source, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, received the Ph.D. in speech pathology from the University of Iowa in 1970. Since then, she has been a Post-Doctoral Fellow in developmental psycholinguistics and a member of several university faculties and has provided clinical services in diverse service environments. She is an ASHA Fellow, and a member of SID#4. Dr. Silverman also has had training in transactional analysis, which she has used to form the structure of her clinical approach. The author of scientific and technical publications, several textbook chapters, and Jason's Secret, a novel for children about the nature and treatment of children's stuttering problems, she has presented at local, state, national, and international meetings.
	Vivian Sisskin, is an instructor and clinical supervisor in the department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the University of Maryland, and was awarded the 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award by the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. She is an ASHA Board Recognized Specialist in Fluency Disorders and serves as Coordinator for ASHA's Special Interest Division 4, Fluency and Fluency Disorders. She has authored articles and continuing educational materials related to the treatment of stuttering in school-age children. In addition to assessment and treatment, her workshops include strategies for effective group therapy and supervision in the areas of fluency disorders. Vivian is a private practitioner in the Washington D.C. area.
	John A. Tetnowski, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is the Ben Blanco Memorial Endowed Professor in Communicative Disorders at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He is a Board Recognized Fluency Specialist and Mentor. He has authored many articles on stuttering, and associated disorders, as well as papers on qualitative research and assessment procedures. He has treated people who stutter for over 15 years and was recently named the 2006 Oustanding Speech-Language Pathologist by the National Stuttering Association.
	Dale F. Williams, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BRS-FD is a Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders at Florida Atlantic University, where he serves as Director of the Fluency Clinic. He is also a consultant with Language Learning Intervention and Professional Speech Services, Inc. A board-recognized fluency specialist, Dr. Williams is the Chair of the Specialty Board on Fluency Disorders and coordinator of the Boca Raton chapter of the National Stuttering Association. His 2006 book is entitled Stuttering Recovery: Personal and Empirical Perspectives (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.).

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