Organized by:
The Netherlands Association for People Who Stutter
Bio: David A. Shapiro, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow, Board Recognized Fluency Specialist, is the Robert Lee Madison Distinguished Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Western Carolina University (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 conferences and has taught workshops, provided clinical service, and conducted research in six continents. His book, Stuttering Intervention: A Collaborative Journey to Fluency Freedom, is in its 2nd edition (2011, PRO-ED, www.proedinc.com) and continues to find a wide international audience. Dr. Shapiro is actively involved in the International Fluency Association (IFA) and International Stuttering Association (ISA), received IFA’s 2006 Award of Distinction for Outstanding Clinician in Dublin, Ireland, and was elected IFA President in 2012, which was announced at IFA’s 7th World Congress on Fluency Disorders in Tours, France. He is a person who stutters, has two adult children with his wife, Kay, and lives near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Title: What Does It Mean To Stutter? – The Quizzical Quintessential Gate to Understanding, Specialization, Change, and Communication Freedom
Abstract: The presenter describes himself as one of the happiest and luckiest people alive. It wasn’t always that way. As a person who stutters, he was without fluency control for most of his first 20 years; he says he is making up for lost time. Unsuccessful with speech-language pathologists and needing to find a way through the morass of stuttering, David Shapiro entered speech pathology as a career. He swore an oath that if he could find a way to talk, then he would do all he could to help others. As a speech-language pathologist for 36 years, he has worked with countless people who stutter of all ages and their families across the world. He has also worked with student, novice, and seasoned speech-language pathologists in many different work settings. One characteristic that too frequently defies professional training and experience is an understanding of what it means to stutter. In this keynote address, Dr. Shapiro addresses this perplexing question and the lessons he has learned from the perspectives of people who stutter, from speech-language pathologists, and from himself. He admits that he wishes he knew when he was younger and less experienced as a professional what he knows now. Dr. Shapiro views stuttering as a universal issue - one that brings people together from diverse lands - enabling us to learn and work toward a common goal. He will make the point that the message of stuttering and intervention, at some point, transforms into a much larger human message. This presentation will provide a rich opportunity for discussion and for learning; it promises to be filled with substance, challenge, reward, and humor.
