Latest News | Stuttering Treatment and Research Trust (START)

Why don’t we stutter when we sing?

Have you ever noticed that you don’t stutter when you sing?

Or if you’re a person who doesn’t stutter, have you ever wondered why you’ve never heard someone stutter while singing? If you watch the video below of Harrison Craig – season 2 winner of The Voice Australia 2013 – you’ll understand how big the change between speaking and singing can be for someone who stutters.

It’s an interesting observation, and there’s no single answer for why this phenomenon occurs. Scientists and researchers have worked hard to answer many difficult questions about stuttering, however when it comes to the singing debate, there are a few strong theories.

Singing occurs in a different part of the brain:

The University of Iowa has done some research on this topic, and have concluded that “Music is an activity in which you use the right side of the brain (language uses the left), so when you sing music, you’re no longer using your left brain (and probably no longer stuttering).”

This is an interesting observation and could very well be why singing is unaffected by stuttering.

We use our vocal cords and mouths differently when singing:

It’s true that in order to sing (well), we need to alter the way we use our vocal cords, as well as how we shape our tongues and mouths. There is a theory that this could have a part to play in why people don’t stutter when they sing and is attributed as one of the potential reasons by The Stuttering Foundation of America.

Here at START we think it could be a combination of our using our vocal cords and mouths differently as well as singing activating a different part of the brain. As one of our SLT Voon Pang says; “the brain controls the mouth, so if the brain is telling the mouth to do something different then I suppose this could be one of the reasons why we don’t stutter when we sing.”

Singing is a different form of communication than most speaking:

Most communication is two-way. It involves an unpredictable conversation, where you can’t plan your next answer. It also holds the potential for the other person or people to interrupt, or to become impatient. Singing, however, is mostly one-way communication, and eliminates the possibility for these challenges. We have often memorised the lyrics when we sing, rather than facing an unpredictable conversation, and unless we are at karaoke it’s unlikely anyone in the audience is planning to interrupt.

We have had many parents comment that when a child is playing by themselves, or talking to themselves, that their stutter is not present. This could be similar to why one-way communication in singing reduces stuttering.

These three theories may or may not be the reason why we don’t stutter when we sing, it may be a combination of the three, or it could even be something else. The truth is, there is still a lot of research to be done.

What we do know, however, is that while singing, putting on an accent, or otherwise altering the way you speak can reduce stuttering, it is still not a permanent cure – it’s unreasonable to expect someone to alter their speech 24/7. However if you are concerned about your stutter, please speak to one of our Speech Language Therapists first, before resorting to singing for the rest of your life.

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What does a donation to our charity do?

If you’ve ever thought about donating to a charity or a cause, it’s likely you’ve also then wondered about where that money goes. This is a pretty fair question – you’ve worked hard for your money and you want to know that you’re making it go as far as it can.

For many charities, it’s difficult to track where the money goes or how it’s used – and in some unfortunate cases, donations go towards things the donor didn’t want.

We’re proud to say this isn’t how we work at START

As a registered charity, we rely on grants, funding, and donations to help us run, and we are fully transparent about where that money goes.

After operational costs such as rent, salaries, and other important factors, the money we receive goes towards making sure every person in New Zealand who stutters is able to access treatment. While we do have a $60/$45 fee for our sessions, we have a subsidy plan and sliding scale in place as an option for those who find the cost difficult.

The truth is, even though $60/$45 sounds like a lot, to truly cover our costs we would need to charge at least $100 per session. This is something we don’t want to do!

It is so important to us that every Kiwi who stutters has access to the treatment they need, and cost should not be a barrier to receiving support. In fact, we would really like to be in the position one day where we can offer our services for free to everyone.

To get to that point however, we need more support, and donating to our charity is a great way to help us achieve this goal. It costs approximately $1,000 for a preschool child to receive treatment for their stuttering, and if you were to donate even a portion of that, you would be making a massive difference in that child’s life – for their whole life.

Your donation could make a real difference in the lives of Kiwis who stutter, and it would make sure that your hard earned money goes as far as shaping a child’s entire life.

To make a donation today, head to our givealittle page and make a difference.

It’s not all about individual therapy

Why we run groups and courses in conjunction with treatment

Over the years we’ve stopped and started our groups and courses while we worked to find the best fit for our clients, but for the past 5 years we’ve really found our feet in terms of what works best. As someone who stutters, or a parent of a child who stutters, you might wonder why we recommend groups and courses in conjunction or even instead of individual therapy – and which option is best for your circumstances.

The groups and courses we run cover a wide range of topics and age groups and include:

Confident Communicators Group

Suitable for children aged 7-10
Includes 4 sessions over the course of the year
Is a fantastic opportunity for kids to meet others in their age group who also stutter and to make lifelong friends
An enjoyable way for children to explore their stutter and how it affects them

Fluency and Confidence Course

Suitable for children aged 11-13
Is a 3 day course
Provides techniques to manage stuttering
Is a fantastic opportunity for kids to meet others in their age group who also stutter and to make lifelong friends

Intensive Fluency Course

We hold separate courses for teens and adults
Run as a 5 day intensive course
Provides techniques to manage stuttering and improve confidence
Offers the opportunity to meet others who stutter in a supportive environment

As you can see, there’s a wide variety for everyone, and while the main theme of each is to improve confidence as well as understand speech techniques to manage stuttering, what we’ve found is most valuable with these groups and courses is the social aspect.

Studies, as well as our own observations, have shown that stuttering can be a deeply isolating experience, and that the opportunity to have supportive and relatable interactions can be hugely beneficial for a person who stutters.

The groups and courses offer the opportunity for the person who stutters to be able to meet others like them, and understand their own experiences a bit better. Finding someone who relates to you and who you relate to in return is an invaluable experience for anyone, and this is no different for someone who stutters.

We also run social days for our younger clients, and a mentoring programme for adults looking for a supportive learning relationship with a peer. If you or someone you know could benefit from the social and supportive aspects of our groups and courses, please get in contact with us and we would love to help.

START has moved!

With the new year came a new location for START!

As most of you know, we’d been at our Parnell office for the past 20 years, and we’ve had so many fantastic memories with all of you there, but did you know that our humble beginnings began in Greenlane? And it’s time we went back to our roots.

However, the growth of Auckland City over the past 2 decades, has been matched only by the growth of our charity, and as a result, it’s important for us to make a change to continue moving forward, which is why in January we moved in with The Hearing House at The Stitchbury Bidwill Centre, 251 Campbell Road, Greenlane.

This move has enabled us to be surrounded by a charity focused on similar work as ours, and we can’t wait to see how we can work together and reach new heights.

A few details have changed, so if you would like to get in contact you can do so as you always have, but with a new phone number and address.

To phone:

09 579 6775

Our new address:

251 Campbell Road, Greenlane.

Our new office is on the corner of Campbell Road and William Ave, with the entrance to the premises off William Ave as seen in the images below. For your first visit, please see reception on the first floor and they will direct you to us.

There is limited on-site parking, as well as plenty of on-street parking available on Campbell Road and the adjacent streets.

If you have any trouble finding us, please give us a call, and we can’t wait to see you here!

Happy International Stuttering Awareness Week – how are we celebrating?

It only comes around once a year – International Stuttering Awareness Day on the 22nd of October. This year it falls on Sunday , meaning we get to celebrate all long weekend!

But how exactly are we celebrating? This years’ theme for International Stuttering Awareness Day is “a world that understands stuttering”, a theme we really believe in. To help further this cause, we have put together a fantastic book featuring art, poetry, and essays from many talented Kiwi kids who stutter.

These kids have created some incredible pieces that discuss triumph and failure, excitement, friendship, bullying, and everything in between. They have unique experiences as kids who stutter, and because of this, each child has something different to say. We truly believe that by reading this book, you will understand stuttering on a deeper level – so the more people who read it, the faster we can reach our goal!

This book also features some interesting facts about stuttering, as well as tips for talking with people who stutter.

This book, titled ‘My Stutter’, will retail for $20, the profits of which will be directly used to help us support more people who stutter around the country.

If you would like to purchase ‘My Stutter’, you can find it on our shop page here: www.stuttering.co.nz/shop/

Help us create “A World That Understands Stuttering”

This years’ theme for International Stuttering Awareness Day is ‘A world that understands stuttering’ – and here at START we think this is an incredibly important message to send.
In order to achieve this, we have the goal to create a world-class book of youth and children’s’ poetry, artwork, and writing that expresses what their individual and unique experiences are as a young person who stutters.
We can’t do this ourselves though, which is why we need you! We need young people and children who stutter to share their thoughts and experiences – and in return you will not only see your work printed in a book, you’ll also receive a copy of your own to keep for free!
You don’t need to be New Zealand’s next Picasso or JK Rowling, you just need to have experience as a person who stutters, and a message about this you want to share!
A great way to get started is to think about how your stutter makes you unique, and how you might experience life differently to others –whether it is in a positive or negative way, we welcome all insights!
How does stuttering taste, how does it smell, what colour would it be, and what emotions do you associate with it?
These are all great ways to start thinking about how you might want to tell your story, or even what kind of picture you would like to make.
But remember, there is no right or wrong way to express yourself and we look forward to celebrating all different ideas and voices!
If you would like more information or to submit a piece for our book – or you would like to help your child submit a piece – please get in contact with us via email at support@www.stuttering.co.nz.

Why are males more likely to stutter?

This question comes up fairly regularly, and because so little is understood about the definitive cause of stuttering, it’s often difficult to know why it is more common among males.

What we do know about stuttering is that it affects 1% of the population – an amount that sounds small, but really isn’t. In fact this means that there are almost 15,000 people who stutter in Auckland alone – that’s quite a lot of people actually!

Beyond this hard fact, there is a lot about stuttering that is not known for certain. It is thought that it is a disorder that is rooted in the neural processing area of the brain that controls speech production. There is often a genetic link, with stuttering running in families, and it is also more common in children. Many children who stutter as pre-schoolers will grow out of it without any help, others will need therapy to help with their stutter, and then there are those who will continue to stutter throughout their lives.

Something that we do know is that stuttering is statistically more common among males, although it is not fully understood why. Stuttering affects men four times more than it affects women, which is a pretty big difference.

It has long been suspected that the number of female adults who stutter is significantly lower because they have a higher chance of natural recovery at a young age – this seems to be supported by research done by the University of Illinois Stuttering Research Program. This research showed that girls were more likely to naturally recover or grow out of stuttering without therapy (although this was not the case with every child), whereas boys were less likely to. This clearly indicates the importance of seeking therapy as soon as possible to assess the risks and likelihood of future chronic stuttering.

Stuttering that is genetic (because not all cases are genetic) is also more likely to confirm the gender bias, whereas those cases which are not related to genetics have less of a gender disparity. Another interesting statistic to acknowledge is “for men who stuttered, 9% of their daughters and 22% of their sons will be stutterers; while for the fewer women who ever stuttered the risks are higher, as 17% of their daughters and 36% of their sons will be affected.”

Although there is no hard evidence to tell us why males are more likely to stutter, what we do know is that early access to treatment is the best way to ensure your child – boy or girl – is able to have their stuttering assessed by a trained professional who can advise you on future steps.

If your child is stuttering – web-browsing and asking friends what to do may cause more stress and confusion than need be; it is best you seek professional advice first on where to go from here.

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START speaks up on the global stage

Dr Anna Hearne, a speech language therapist based at our Albany clinic, has recently returned from Germany and France where she has been sharing her knowledge with clinicians and therapists from across Europe. Anna was invited to present at a conference conducted by the Interdisziplinaere Vereinigung der Stottertherapeuten in Fulda, Germany (translated as the “Interdisciplinary Association of Stutter Therapists”).

The conference was focused on “’Effectiveness of Therapy for stuttering: what we do, and how we measure this”. Together with colleague Bettina Freerk, the presentation explained their findings and experience with the Lidcombe Program for stuttering treatment in children. Following each presentation there was a chance for healthy discussion of the topic and a question and answer session among the professionals to maximise learnings. As one of only 10 presentations to an exclusive group of 130 invitees, Anna and Bettina not only educated the audience but also helped to grow STARTs networks on a global scale.

A big part of our role as therapists is professional development and education. For us, it’s important to stay at the head of the field with the latest research and treatment approaches to ensure we’re delivering the best service to our clients. As well as the conference in Germany, Anna continued on to present workshops about the Lidcombe Program in Germany and the Camperdown Program in France, helping more therapists to become aware and proficient with these treatment approaches.

Start Celebrates 21 Years of Service

In March 2016 START formally marked its twenty first birthday with a party and celebration for some of our friends and supporters.

Around sixty people gathered at the home of current trustee and generous host Suzanne Purdy and her husband Peter in Epsom.

The evening was an opportunity for past trustees, ambassadors and staff members to catch up. START ambassadors Royce Willis and Ian Grant were in attendance along with past employees, and trustees and long term supporters of START. Manager Janelle Irvine is optimistic about the future for START. “We see huge potential in our group programmes due to the sense of community they create for our clients and this is an area we are focusing on to build a sustainable future for our organisation.”

Janelle also paid tribute to the commitment and dedication of longstanding Chairman Nigel Whiteman and current Speech Language Therapist Roz Young who have served START for many years. “The sense of family START has created is very important to us and we’re proud of our close supportive community”

START was established in 1995 by a small group of committed and motivated people which included speech language therapists, people who stuttered and families of children who stuttered. June Garden and Vivienne Mills were instrumental in forming the Stuttering Treatment and Research Trust when the District Health Board stopped providing treatment through its outpatient services.

START team learn more about the Demands and Capacities Model (DCM)

In July START employees Anna Hearne and Voon Pang attended a workshop in Rotterdam to learn more about the demand and capacities (DCM) model.

The workshop was an invaluable opportunity for the START team to see the DCM programme results, which are showing similarities with the Lidcombe Program. The highlight for Anna and Voon though was the opportunity to meet and network with such a large group of experts in stuttering with delegates from Russia, Japan, Brazil, Netherlands, Germany, and Australia. “To have all that expertise and interest in stuttering in one place was really energising” Anna said.