In May the Halifax Support Group for People Who Stutter celebrated their seventh anniversary. Participants enjoyed celebratory snacks and drinks as well as a presentation from Dr. Michael Kiefte, a Dalhousie researcher who is interested in methods to reduce the frequency of stuttering. Lively discussion followed, along with some choral reading to help members with their flu
The Halifax Support Group For People Who Stutter is run by Alison Thompson, who can be contacted through e-mail at alison.thompson@dal.ca
Recently OAPWS has been in contact with Alison and shared experiences on sustaining a support group. The Halifax group is very lucky in that they obtain free meeting space at Dalhousie University. Also interesting to learn is that student pathologists at the Dalhousie School for Communication Disorders attend many of the group’s meetings – it is a requirement of their program. Alison noted that this arrangement has been very beneficial both for the students and the members of the support group.
We have discussed the possibility of a similar arrangement with Pat Roberts, Director of the Speech Pathology Department of the University of Ottawa. Students in her program often do a practicum at the Stuttering Treatment Clinic whenever the Clinic Coordinator Kara Beck holds an intensive or semi-intensive program.
Even before this placement it may be helpful for these aspiring speech pathologists to attend some of our meetings and mingle with people who stutter.
This fall we hope to explore further the possibility of a similar arrangement and invite students to an OAPWS meeting.
Once again congratulations to the Halifax Support Group on their seventh anniversary. OAPWS wishes them many more years of success.