No abstract

No abstract

This preliminary study explored the feasibility and benefits of using cinematherapy with adults who stutter to address affective and cognitive reactions to stuttering and their impact on the persons' life. A mixed methods research design was used to explore the impact of cinematherapy. Four clients completed a 4-week structured cinematherapy program. All clients completed two questionnaires: Unhelpful Thoughts and Beliefs about Stuttering and Overall Experience of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering, before starting and after completing the program. At the end of the program, clients also completed a semistructured interview. The semistructured interviews provide insight on clients' perceptions of cinematherapy, and questionnaires provided quantitative insights on the clients' perceptions of change. Qualitative data analysis indicated that clients reported five themes related to perceptions of cinematherapy: Promoted Vulnerability; Nurtured Empowerment; Stimulated Self-Reflection; Incited Feelings of Belonging; and Diminished Self-Stigma. Overall, clients reported a clinically significant decrease in scores on both questionnaires after completion of the 4-week cinematherapy program. Results indicate that cinematherapy was well received and had a positive impact on cognitive and affective aspects of stuttering in the four adult clients. These results provide preliminary support for larger scale clinical trials of cinematherapy as an adjuvant to traditional stuttering therapy.

Objective: The aims of this investigation were to explore (a) the experiences of women who stutter in university settings; (b) the impact of stuttering related to the emotions attached to stuttering; (c) the impact of stuttering on relationships for women; and (d) coping and management of stuttering within the university setting. Method: Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to understand the lived experiences of women who stutter when attending university. In-depth semi-structured interviews were collected from seven women who stutter and subjected to inductive analysis. Results: Qualitative data analysis indicated that participants reported four themes related to their university experiences: ‘Role of support’; ‘Client-centered therapy’; ‘Role of authoritative figures’; and ‘The stuttering stereotype exists.’ Discussion: Women are presented with unique challenges while attending university, as they must combat stereotypes related to stuttering and being a woman, and they must also overcome the related obstacles. Conclusions: There is much work to be done in the university setting, in order to change how people who stutter are portrayed and how stuttering is perceived. These data point toward the need for advocacy training within the university setting, and for more holistic approaches to be utilized in stuttering intervention.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine specific patterns of Twitter usage using common reference to stuttering. Method: The study used cross-sectional analysis of data generated from Twitter data. Twitter content, language, reach, users, accounts, temporal trends, and social networks were examined. Results: We identified and analyzed around 270,000 tweets from May to September 2018. Of the 100 most active Twitter accounts, individuals owned 64% compared with 31% owned by organizations. The individual accounts mainly consisted of comedians who stutter and individual's accounts. Of the individual accounts, 61% belonged to people who did not stutter or significant others of persons who stutter (PWSs). PWSs or significant others of PWSs accounted for 10.9% and 28.1%, respectively. Three unique tweets were identified as each having a reach of over 8 million Twitter users, with the greatest reach exceeding 40 million users. Temporal analysis identified marked retweet outliers (> 2,800 and > 2,200 retweets per day) that corresponded with a prank call made to the president on air force one by Stuttering John. Results indicate that, during data collection, Twitter is a platform that primarily functions to assail political opponents or denigrate adversaries, which further enhances the negative stereotypes about stuttering. Conclusions: The conclusions are based on the 100 most active/highest reach Twitter accounts. Twitter accounts owned by individuals outnumbered organization accounts, and people who do not stutter were the most frequently active account type. This study offers important insights regarding existing trends and offers an informed direction for future advocacy for PWSs and their supporting community via Twitter.