Camp Shout Out Builds Great Communicators! A person who stutters can be a Great Communicator. A person who stutters can be a doctor, lawyer, musician, actor, firefighter, teacher or any other professional. The opportunities are endless. This project will introduce several successful, professional adults who stutter to kids who stutter. This will allow the young people who stutter (and their parents) to realize that stuttering does not need to stop them from achieving their goals.
Stuttering is a communication disorder occurring in 5% of school age youth often resulting in significant emotional & social consequences, including communication withdrawal, bullying, & shame. Many youth who stutter experience a great deal of fear when faced with everyday communication tasks such as ordering in a restaurant, speaking in class, or answering the phone. This fear of speaking can have significant academic, social and behavioral ramifications effecting grades and even career choices
Camp Shout Out: Be Our Guest when fully funded will allow us to bring in several successful, professional adults who stutter to be a part of our 2014 program. Our 'guests' will interact with youth who stutter by participating in discussion, question and answer, and informal conversation. They will provide information about their journey with stuttering and how it shaped them throughout their lives.
This project has the potential to change the way young people who stutter think about their futures. Camp Shout Out: Be Our Guest will affect, both directly and indirectly, more than 200 youth who stutter as well as 60 speech-language pathologists, graduate students and undergraduate students. This project will change the world for young people who stutter.
