At the Raptor Center: what do you say to a snowy owl?
Photo by Everett Ayoubzadeh
Children who stutter sometimes stop talking--they feel it's not worth the effort. But at the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences' day camp, young stutterers learn a different tune: "It's okay to say what you want to say, stutter or not. Don't clam up: you can be successful the way you are."
Proving the point are camp leaders, professionals from the community, and grad students, some of whom stutter. Children receive speech therapy, but the emphasis is on examining the effect their stuttering has on others and interacting with people they meet on field trips to fun places like the U of M Raptor Center (photo above).
The department has launched a similar program for teens. Scholarships are available, thanks to an anonymous donor.
For more information, contact Linda Hinderscheit, hinde001@umn.edu
