Preparing Adolescents Who Stutter for Life after High School through Transition Planning

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Naomi Rodgers, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Ginger Collins, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, and Tim McCarren, M.A., CCC-SLP join host, Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP to discuss a recent research collaboration aiming to explore and better understand how SLPs can best support adolescents who stutter for life after high school through transition planning. 

Naomi, Ginger, and Tim discuss the need for better guidelines and support for SLPs who support high schoolers who stutter within transition planning, more about transition planning in general, as well as understanding the legal aspects of transition plans for high school students. They share findings from their study's focus groups, specific feedback from various stakeholders, use of their discussion guide (linked below), and finally, offer practical tips for school-based SLPs. 

This is a really fabulous and rich episode guaranteed to support SLPs who work with students who stutter across the age span, but particularly those who work with adolescents and want to understand how to best prepare students for the next phases of their lives. A must listen and a very timely back-to-school release!

Resources mentioned:

• Postsecondary Transition Planning with Students Who Stutter Discussion Guide
• Pre-print of article (under review) 
• Job Accommodation Network (askJAN)
• ASHA: Post Secondary Transition Planning
• NSA Career Success

Bios:
Dr. Naomi Rodgers is an assistant professor at the University Iowa where she directs the Iowa Stuttering Lab and teaches courses in stuttering, counseling, and clinical methods. Her experiences as a person who stutters and speech therapist inspire her research on the cognitive, emotional, and social aspects of stuttering and stuttering therapy, with a particular interest in these topics in adolescence. She is active in the stuttering support community, leading the Iowa City chapter of the National Stuttering Association and also volunteering for FRIENDS (the National Association of Young People Who Stutter). She also co-directs UI SHINE, which is a summer program at the University of Iowa for young people who stutter or who are Deaf/hard of hearing. 

Dr. Ginger Collins is a professor at the University of Montana, where she is also the Program Director. Dr. Collins directs the Motivational Adolescent Research in Vocabulary and Expressive Literacy (AKA- MARVEL) Lab and is a founding member of the Structured Word Inquiry Research Vanguard (AKA- SWIRV). Dr. Collins teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in language and literacy disorders and a graduate course in stuttering. Her research is primarily focused on literacy interventions targeting morphological knowledge and preparing adolescents for life after school through thoughtful transition planning.

Tim McCarren is a speech language pathologist with Hopkins Public Schools in Hopkins, Minnesota. Tim also leads the Twin Cities adult chapter of the National Stuttering Association. During the summer, he participates in two different camps for kids who stutter. He co-leads the Sioris Family Camp for Kids Who Stutter, a day camp through the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and he is a member of the clinical team at Star Lake Out Loud, a sleep-away camp in Northern Minnesota. Tim is also a person who stutters, and loves to incorporate theatre and improv activities as ways to introduce risk taking, spontaneous communication, community building, and acceptance.<