What are the challenges and importance of implementing neurodiversity affirming therapy in school-based settings? Join host Ezra and guest Matt Maxion, a speech therapist who stutters, as they discuss the shift from fluency-focused goals to empowering individuals who stutter to communicate confidently. The two address misconceptions, share personal experiences, and advocate for a more inclusive therapy approach… and Matt shares his answer to “What place do the infamous fluency shaping and stuttering modification ‘techniques’ have in affirming speech therapy” 

Guest Bio

Matt Maxion is a CCC-SLP and stutterer who aims to shift our perspective for stuttering therapy closer to neurodiversity affirming therapy, prioritizing a build in communication confidence and participation in daily activities. Matt’s commitment lies in fostering positive, practical change rather than adhering to conventional metrics of fluency.

Matt and Ezra will both be speaking at the National Stuttering Association’s annual conference this July: https://westutter.org/conference/speakers/ 

FOOTNOTES

To learn more about how the neurodivergent-affirming speech therapy applies to stuttering:

1. Stuttering Intervention Without a Focus on Fluency. ASHA Voices. Podcast. Host J. D. Gray. Guest C. Constantino. https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/2022-0707-podcast-constantino-stuttering-neurodiversity


2. Watson, L. (2022). Beyond Fluency: Anti-Ableism and Stuttering. The Informed SLP. Blogpost. https://www.theinformedslp.com/review/beyond-fluency-anti-ableism-and-stuttering


3. Constantino, C. D. “What Can Stutterers Learn from the Neurodiversity Movement?.” Seminars in speech and language vol. 39,4 (2018): 382-396. doi:10.1055/s-0038-1667166


4. Gerlach-Houck, H. & Constantino, C. D. (2022). Interrupting ableism in stuttering therapy and research: Practical Suggestions. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_PERSP-21-00109


5. Reeves, N. A., Flynn, T. W., & Schuff, R. Z. (2023). Ableism to empowerment: Navigating school structures when working with students who stutter. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 54(1),8-26.  https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_LSHSS-22-00026


6. Arenas, R. (2022). Integrating anti-ableism and neurodiversity ideas into EBP for people who stutter. Powerpoint. https://shs.unm.edu/assets/documents/arenas--nmsha-2022.pdf 

For related episodes of the pod, check out these 2023 episodes:

Shaping Speech Therapy with Steff Lebsack, CCC-SLP: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4g7ZfdI5udJHTHG13Itsql?si=33c02a9ed8574603

Widening the Stuttering Therapy Lens with Nina Reeves, CCC-SLP, BCS-FD: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2nN8YpO4XBclHlHXDCHwxF?si=84695339e9fa4daa 

For additional speech therapy resources on how to apply these, check out Martha Speech on Teachers Pay Teachers, and Stuttering Therapy Resources

Martha Speech: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Martha-Speech

STR: https://stutteringtherapyresources.com/pages/free-resources 

Nicole's Stutter Affirming Binder: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Miss-Nicole-Stuttering-Support

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Intro music is an edited excerpt of: "The Crawl of Life" jaspertine ccmixter.org, 4.0 CC BY license

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Post-production editing by DJ Liam, instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠@liam.m4a⁠⁠⁠

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