A research team in UCD is currently conducting a study on how language is affected in people with persistent developmental stuttering/stammering (PDS) and would like to invite you to participate in the research. The study aims to use EEG (a non-invasive method for recording brain activity) to examine if there are differences in brain activity in people with PDS while they view videos, images, words and sentences. You can read more about the study in the information leaflet linked below.

If you would like to participate or hear more about the study please contact Jessica

‍The goal of this study is to understand the authentic experience of people with stutter during and after online meetings.

We are a team of user researchers and product designers at Cornell University in collaboration with a non-profit organization called AImpower that engages in research and co-creates technologies with and for underserved communities to uplift these groups, seeking to break down barriers, create benefits, and advocate for social justice. We aim to understand the post-online meeting experience and preferred solutions of people who stutter.

We plan to collaborate with PwS to design a feature for online meeting tools such as Zoom that prompts PwS to reflect on and review their meeting experience with mindfulness and self-compassion. From this survey, we hope to understand your emotional needs and goals in the context of online meetings. That is when having a team/group meeting virtually/online, giving a presentation online, or having an online interview, etc.

Please fill out the survey if you use a Video Conferencing tool such as Zoom at least once a week. Feel free to skip any questions you feel uncomfortable answering.

To protect your privacy, please avoid identifying details.

‍Please do not fill out the survey if you are under 18.

Click this Link to start the survey: https://forms.gle/Rix4rhbWX23uhCm96

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We are 4^th year Speech and Language Therapy students from the University of Galway, seeking participants for our final year research project. The title of our project is:

“Understanding the lives of children who stutter through drawing.”

This study is based on the Children’s Drawing Protocol adapted from Holliday (2009).

We are looking for:

-         A minimum of 15 participants.

-         Between the ages of 5-12.

-         Must have a previous diagnosis of a stutter – diagnosed by an SLT.

-         Must have a good level of English.

-         No co-occurring cognitive or fine motor conditions that may affect their ability to abstractly draw their feelings.

The study will consist of one session in-person or online, via zoom, where a researcher, a parent/guardian and the participant (child)will be present.

Participants (the children) will not be explicitly told that the study is investigating stuttering. Instead, they will be asked to draw a picture of themselves ‘talking’. This is to avoid skewing the child’s answers to reflect solely on stuttering. Parents/guardians will however be told that stuttering is the key investigative subject, via the information and consent leaflets.

The child will be asked to…

-         Draw a picture of themselves talking in a variety of scenarios (4 pictures in total; At home, at school, talking to someone in their family, doing something they enjoy)

-         Answer questions about their drawing

-         Rate their talking using the SPAA-C (smiley face rating scale) (McLeod, 2004).

-         The session will be recorded for transcription purposes – consent will be obtained by the researcher

In addition to the above tasks, researchers will carryout:

-         The Intelligibility in Context Scale (with a parent/guardian).

-         The Communication and Attitudes Test.

-         Percentage of syllables stuttered via a speech sample.

The potential harm/risk to participants are minimal. Any upset or discomfort will be resolved via the lead investigator or a familiar person in the room e.g. offering support or a break.

Information on stuttering support groups can also be provided to the child and their parent/guardian, they be interested.

If you would like any further information, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

All the best,

Megan & Aedín

Researchers at Michigan State University (J. Scott Yaruss) and Duquesne University (Seth E. Tichenor) are studying the impact of stuttering on people’s lives. They are currently conducting an evaluation of a widely used assessment of the experience of stuttering, known as the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering, or OASES. You can find more information about their work at https://stutteringlab.msu.edu.

The purpose of this study is to learn about what people who stutter experience. Research in this area has historically been considered mostly from the listener’s viewpoint. We want to know more about your viewpoint as a speaker. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. You may have completed the OASES previously, but the researchers are hoping that will complete it again, so that they can evaluate whether specific items in the test are valuable for reflecting the experience of stuttering.

‍WHAT YOU WILL DO

You will be asked to provide answers to survey questions about your experiences related to repetitive thoughts. Your participation in this study will require about 10-15 minutes.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS

Though you will not directly benefit from your participation in this study, your participation will help clinicians, researchers, and other people who stutter better understand the experience of stuttering.

POTENTIAL RISKS

There are minimal foreseeable risks associated with participation in this survey.

The primary risk is a breach of confidentiality. We will take every precaution to guard your privacy by ensuring that your personal information (in this case, your email address) will not be released publicly or shared with anyone.

The other possible risk is that some of the questions may cause you to feel uncomfortable. You will not be required to answer any question that you do not wish to answer.

HOW TO TAKE PART

To participate in this research, visit https://bit.ly/OASES2023

This research is looking for participants who are 18 and over, are fluent in English and have a stammer to take part in two short conditions (15 minutes each).

In order to contribute to research about stammering, anxiety and speech conditions. The purpose of this study is to see if there is a difference in anxiety scores between two speech conditions (read and spontaneous).  Both conditions involve a task and a short survey.  

This research will take place on the University College Dublin Belfield campus in the School of Psychology Labs. Participation times are flexible. This study has been granted ethical approval by the University Research Ethics committee at UCD. This research is being conducted as part of the final year of the undergraduate Psychology programme at UCD. This research is being supervised by Dr Sarah Cooney.

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To register interest please follow the link below:

https://forms.gle/UujmvsZK9Zwzkf7b7

This Research is inviting adults who stutter (18 years or older) to participate in online training involving a simple specific conscious eye movement.  It is based on an unconscious connection between eye movement and tongue movement, highlighted by the lead researcher.  The purposes of the study are 1) to investigate if making a specific timed eye movement is a viable tool to enable adults who stutter avoid a repetition or block.  2) to see if having that choice improves the lived experience of being a person who stutters 3) to evaluate the effect this technique has on the anticipation of stuttering

The study is taking place online.   Participants are asked to complete a self-assessment survey (Qualtrics) before training commences, after training and at three month follow up.  The training schedule is for 5 weeks.  Participants must attend short weekly online sessions (< 15 minutes) and agree to practice the specific eye movements for ten minutes twice per day.  Participants will be randomly allocated to one of two eye movement conditions: downwards or sideways.  Participants are asked not to apply the conscious eye movement outside practice times during the 5 weeks training.  After training they are free to use the technique if they find it helps.

This study has been granted ethical approval by Sligo University Hospital and Atlantic Technological University, Sligo, Ireland.

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Academic Supervisor :Dr Kenneth Monaghan

Funding: Funded by Irish Research Council EBPPG/2021/10.

Declan Whelan, a mature student is currently completing the 4th and final year of a BSc Honours degree in Applied Psychology in the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology. He is conducting a research project and is looking for participants.

It is generally accepted that stammering is a complex and interesting phenomenon with different aspects and many unknowns. There is a growing recognition of the need to gain a deeper understanding of stammering from the perspective of the person who stammers. The aim of the study is to increase understanding of the experiences of adults who stammer. The study aims to inform Counselling Psychology practice and research and to contribute to the development of therapeutic interventions. Triona Lanigan is looking for people to take part in her study “A life story approach to understanding the experiences of adults who stammer”. The research is being conducting as part of a Doctoral Degree in Counselling Psychology. The research is being supervised by Prof. Barbara Hannigan who is a core staff member on the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology programme at Trinity College Dublin.

It is generally accepted that stammering is a complex and interesting phenomenon with different aspects and many unknowns. There is a growing recognition of the need to gain a deeper understanding of stammering from the perspective of the person who stammers. This research is being conducted by Catriona Lanigan as part of a Doctoral Degree in Counselling Psychology. The aim of the study is to increase understanding of the experiences of adults who stammer. The study aims to inform Counselling Psychology practice and research and to contribute to the development of therapeutic interventions. See contact details if you’re an adult who stammers and would like to take part in the survey.

Gemma Connolly, a final year speech and language therapy student in NUI Galway, is carrying out a research study which involves talking to adults who stammer about their memories of making friends. What will be involved? Here’s what Gemma told Irish Stammering Association about her project: “If you agree to take part in the study, you and I will meet for an “interview/conversation” where I will ask you questions about your life as a person who stammers and experiences you have had making friends. This should last between 30 minutes to one hour at the most. With your permission, I will audio record the conversation so that I will be able to write out the details of it afterwards (all identifying information will be removed, making it anonymous).” Examples of questions: What are your memories of your first friends in school? And do you remember having a stammer at this time? As you have grown up, has having a stammer impacted on your confidence when talking to new people and forming friendships? Gemma is looking to talk to people aged 21 and older, and who speak English as a first language. If you are interested in taking part, please send Gemma an email and she will send you on the information pack about the study.

Hilary McDonagh, a post graduate student at Institute of Technology Sligo is carrying out a research study on the link between stammering and eye movements. She aims to investigate the effectiveness of using eye movements to help manage a stammer.

Due to restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, all assessments and instructions will occur online.

For the five week intervention period, total training and practice time will total less than 3 hours per week ( 20 mins per day plus a support video call once per week).

Research is funded by the Irish Research Council ref. EBPPG/2019/135

(Please note: these are external academic studies by research institutions on the island of Ireland and further afield that have asked Irish Stammering Association to promote them. They are not affiliated with Irish Stammering Association).

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Would you like to take part in an academic study on stammering? Aisling Lacey, a final year student in DCU is currently collecting data for her thesis examining the impact of stammering as a barrier to physical activity. If you are over 18 and interested in participating, please follow the link below to the questionnaire.

PhD student Amy Connery is conducting her research with the goal of  designing an intervention model for adults who stutter. As a person who stutters, your experience and perspective is valuable. Get in touch with Amy If you are interested in participating or would like to learn more about her research to date. The total time required for participation in the survey is approximately 40 minutes.

A postgraduate student at Queen’s University Belfast invites you to take part in his study on the self-disclosure of stammering.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Andrew Patterson, a postgraduate student from Queen’s University Belfast, is carrying out research into the experiences of stammerers who disclose to others that they have a stammer. This includes why, how, when and to whom a stammerer makes such a disclosure and the impact upon them of having done so.

WHO CAN TAKE PART?

Andrew is looking for adults (18 years or over), with all levels of stammering severity, in Northern Ireland, who have on more than one occasion disclosed their stammer to someone else or who are open about their stammering to others.  

WHAT WILL IT INVOLVE?

If you would like to support the research, you will be asked to meet with Andrew in strict confidence to take part in an informal interview regarding your experiences. He will use what you tell him in to create a dissertation that will add to the body of knowledge regarding stammering in general.  

To take part, or if you have any

questions, please email Andrew at .  

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