Communication access realtime translation (cart) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be totally verbatim. The consumer should check with the moderator for any clarifications of the material.
This text-based course is a written transcript of the live event, “Stuttering Therapy: Overcoming the Impossible with Teens and Adults”, presented by Marilee Fini on February 20, 2012.
>> Amy Hansen: Welcome to today's expert seminar titled “Stuttering Therapy: Overcoming the Impossible with Teens and Adults,” presented today by Marilee Fini. My name is Amy Hansen and I will be your moderator for today's course. At this time I am very pleased to introduce Marilee Fini this afternoon. Marilee is a practicing speech pathologist in Cleveland, Ohio running her own private practice, MLF Speech Therapy. Marilee sheds a unique light on the subject of stuttering since she has dealt with it most of her own life. Throughout her journey, she has faced many situations, which she deemed as impossible, but was able to overcome them through hard work, dedication and faith. She often applies this theme of overcoming the impossible when working with clients and other speech pathologists in order to motivate them to achieve their true potential. Marilee regularly speaks on the subject of stuttering throughout the U.S., often being an invited speaker for speech and language conventions as well as presenting for seminar companies, hospitals, schools and other agencies. So, welcome, Marilee. Thank you for joining us again today. It is great to have you back.
>> Marilee Fini: Thank you so much. My name is Marilee F-f-f-f-f-ini. I want to start off with hard and severe stuttering, so that I'm comfortable and you're comfortable as well. I always start off my talks like that. A lot of people wonder, speech pathology, stuttering, how does that go together? Well, it has been a beautiful marriage for about 18 years, but people like me to explain how I do it. How does it work? Well, in terms of my own speech, I consider myself a work in progress. Certainly my speech is not perfect. I'm not 100% fluent. But I work on a daily basis on eye contact, reducing tension, and most importantly, going into those situations that are scary.
Amy shared a little bit of my bio, and I just wanted to add a few other things. I do work in private practice in the school setting and I have had experience with working with both teens and adults. Also, in my own personal experience, being a teen myself a long time ago, I can remember that it was so challenging and so difficult going through the experience of stuttering along with the normal things that go along with being that age.
