Fluency Friday creates supportive environment for people who stutter

Fluency Friday is hosted by the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Hamilton County Educational Service Center and Pathways Forward Center for Stuttering. The goal of Fluency Friday isn’t to eliminate stuttering but rather to learn about stuttering and show children and teens that they’re not alone.

“Everybody here stutters,” Landon Welch, one of the teens in attendance, told Local 12. “It’s a safe place where I can stutter and not be judged about it.”

Students shared their personal experiences in an understanding and accepting environment, participating in group therapy sessions as well as engaging in team-building and confidence-building activities. Therapy for children and teens was provided by graduate clinicians from UC’s College of Allied Health Sciences under the guidance of licensed speech-language pathologists.

“One of the things that’s so special about this day is these kids get the chance to come together and be with other kids who also stutter and see that in this space, there are lots of people that care more about what they say than how they say it,” said Robert Reichhardt, a board-certified specialist in stuttering, cluttering and fluency disorders and director of Pathways Forward Center for Stuttering. “They care more about the content than whether they happen to be stuttering.”

During this year’s session, organizers announced they plan to rebrand Fluency Friday and asked those in attendance for suggestions for a new name.

See more from Local 12.

Featured image at top: Children and teens who attended Fluency Friday pose for a photo along with their parents and caregivers, graduate clinicians from UC’s College of Allied Health Sciences, event organizers and guest speakers. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II