Camp Shout Out Sizzles

By Julie Raynor

In August 2011, 60 speech-language pathologists, graduate students and young people who stutter (ages 8-16) attended the inaugural session of Camp Shout Out held at Pioneer Trails Camp on Big Blue Lake near Muskegon, Michigan. Camp Shout Out is an intensive speech therapy and recreation program for young people who stutter and a hands-on CEU training opportunity for speech-language pathologists and graduate students.

Participants came to Michigan from nine different states and Guatemala. Training and treatment coordinator and director Kristin A. Chmela, assisted by June H. Campbell, directed and guided the learning process. Throughout the week, campers participated in individual, small and large group speech therapy sessions that focused on personal communication goals. Speech therapists and graduate students planned and led the therapy activities and also participated in daily ‘problem solving’ trainings with Kristin and June.

All participants stayed overnight in cabins on the camp property and ate meals together in the dining hall, which encouraged spontaneous interactions.

During the week it was difficult to tell who was having more fun, the campers or the adults, in recreational activities such as the zip line, Capture the Flag, King of the Water Mat, or Therapist Hunt. New friendships were formed and everybody learned about the power of communication. It was not unusual to find a group of campers sitting together working on a project during the day or a gathering of speech-language pathologists and grad students on the dock each night having quiet conversations and watching the dark sky full of stars.

One speech-language pathologist stated, “My eyes were opened to the world of stuttering. This week has given me insights on how to conduct therapy sessions with techniques and emotional support for children who stutter.”

For the 2012 session we are excited to add a Leader-In-Training program for older teen campers (ages 16-18) as well as the addition of Kevin Eldridge to the program faculty team. We can’t wait!

Visit campshoutout.org or Stutteringhelp.org.

Editor’s Note: A 2009 SFA Iowa Workshop attendee, Julie Raynor is truly a force of nature. She has done a superb job organizing and promoting this camp. The fantastic publicity she generated attracted children from across the Midwest and even a youngster from Guatemala.

-From the Winter 2012 Newsletter

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Darren Sproles

Darren Sproles, a former player for The Philadelphia Eagles, the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers, made history in 2007 when he became the first player in NFL history to return a kickoff and a punt for his first two NFL touchdowns in the same game. In 2021, he was selected to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Carly Simon

Carly Simon began stuttering severely when she was eight years old.

Bill Withers

While Bill Withers has long been on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter, many people probably didn’t realize he stuttered. He passed away on March 30, 2020.

Born in 1938 in Slab Fork, W.V., Withers was the youngest of six children. When his father died when Withers was small, he was raised by his mother and grandmother, both of whom worked as domestics.

Jack Paar

While Jack Paar is among the most prominent of the entertainers on the Stuttering Foundation’s list of Famous People Who Stutter, he deserves special recognition as he was among the first to openly address his stuttering in public. As host of The Tonight Show from 1957-1962, he spoke of his difficulties as a stuttering child and teenager, giving hope to young people.

Frank Wolf

This Virginian congressman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. The longtime supporter of the Stuttering Foundation drew national attention to childhood stuttering in 2006 when he submitted an article about Tiger Woods from the SFA newsletter to the Congressional Record. The congressman is featured in the Stuttering Foundation's Famous People Who Stutter brochure.