ECSF

In November 2008 as I applied for the ECSF along with my long time colleague and friend Mary O Dwyer, we were in the very early planning stages for an intensive group for adults who stuttered. Eighteen months on, that course became a reality and assisted by our ECSF Irish group, it was highly successful.

The format of the course was hugely influenced by many factors not least by the learning undertaken over the preceding year.
It was the first intensive residential course for adults who stutter run in the HSE South. To it we brought a highly eclectic approach from narrative therapy to mindfulness and everywhere in between.
How did this course come about? Over the course of the year as Mary and I continued to meet separately with a colleague who was involved in planning the residential course; the ECSF influence on our work and thought processes became more apparent and the other ECSF colleagues (Aoife McGuire, Jonathon Linklater, Patricia Collins) came on board bringing with them a highly individualised approach. Mary O Dwyer as chief instigator and inspiration came up with a title that represented what we stood for 'Free to stutter, Free to speak'. The data has been compiled and preliminary results will be put together, hopefully for future presentation and possible publication.

I enclose a small sample of some feedback we received: ‘Stuttering can and does have a profound affect on people in many ways including silent secret shame-based suffering , extreme avoidance of feared situations, career and life choice and stymieing contact. However, as a result of this course I am re-writing my story, my history, and hopefully the history of my children, and my children’s children. Hopefully too, my story will inspire other stutters to begin to re-write theirs.’