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Story Synopsis:

Jonelle is a certified school psychologist who has completed her Ph.D. dissertation and now has to appear in person before a tough faculty committee to defend the doctorate she has pursued for a decade. But there is one major obstacle: Jonelle has a life-long, nearly disabling stutter. In a last bid for fluency, she enrolls in a three-and-a-half week program in which stutterers from around the country struggle in their different ways to manage the affliction that has dominated their lives. Jonelle says that she sees her film "not just as my story, but as our story," and some of the participants share tales of their own painful struggles to communicate. One woman boldly relates how she used to cut herself daily "because when I saw the blood on my wrist I knew I was alive. Other than that I didn't know because I did not have a voice." The group forms a tight bond as issues of trust and self-acceptance are explored in an atmosphere where progress can be made. "One of the things that I wanted to do when I left here," says Jonelle, "was to go home and tell people my name." Jonelle's diary chronicles her pursuit of that goal.

Jonelle [Resources]

Did you know...?

Over three million Americans stutter.

Stuttering affects four times as many males as females.

People who stutter are as intelligent and well-adjusted as non-stutterers.

Despite decades of research, there are no clear-cut answers to the causes of stuttering, but much has been learned about factors which contribute to its development. Some 25 percent of all children go through a stage of development during which they stutter. A qualified clinician can help not only children but also teenagers, young adults and even older adults make significant progress toward fluency. (Courtesy Stuttering Foundation of America)

Links:

National Stuttering Association (Annual Convention 6/21/2000) http://www.nsastutter.org

Therapy for Stuttering http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/comdis/kuster/therapy.html

Stuttering Foundation of America
http://www.stuttersfa.org/

Successful Stuttering Management Program http://www.ssmpmanual.com/

American Speech-Language Hearing Association (the accrediting organization for Speech-Language Pathologists) http://www.asha.org