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Stammering probably
affects over 450,000 adults in this country. For some it is a childhood
disorder, which can usually be effectively treated, but for others the
patterns of bad practice harden, and the stammer continues into adult
life in varying degrees of intensity. On the positive side, adult
stammerers are usually resourceful and innovative in seeking life-styles
that suit them, and in the process they have worked with speech
therapists to develop a number of successful treatment programmes
containing useful fluency techniques. One of the better known and
longest established is treatment at The Apple House, which has been run
at Oxford since 1964.
Speech Therapy courses
for adult stammerers were started at the Warneford Hospital, Oxford, in
1964. They were
initiated and encouraged by Dr. Seymour Spencer, MD, Bch, FRC Psych, DPM
and Miss Catherine Renfrew, MBE, FRCSLT. From 1966 to 1998 they were
directed by Mrs Gerda Wilson, MSc, MRCSLT, JP, a senior speech and
language therapist whose work has been admired throughout the profession. Her achievements have been recognised by the International Association of Therapists and Counselo rs when in 1996 she was awarded
the European Educator of the Year and in 1998 she
received the Diana,
Princess of Wales Award for Human
Communication. From 1976 to
1998 her
work at the Warneford Hospital was very ably supported and seconded by Mrs. Sylvia Davey, MRCSLT,
as assistant therapist. The Oxford courses at
The Apple House have
been awarded the status of Health Service
recognized "Centre of Excellence" and are
we believe, unique in their continuous history over a period of some
thirty-four year.
David Ward d.ward@reading.ac.uk
David Ward PhD MA BSc MRCSLT, Highly
Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, joined the Oxford Stammer
Programme at The Apple House in 1999, having previously worked in Canada
as a specialist fluency clinician and in England as as both specialist
fluency clinician and lecturer/researcher. In addition to his work at
the Apple House, he is currently the Director of the Speech Research
Laboratory at the University of Reading, where he also lectures on
disorders of fluency. He has presented papers on stammering and
cluttering in Europe, the Middle East, Canada and the USA. He has also
published a number of research articles, book chapters and recently a
textbook on both theoretical and therapeutic aspects of stammering
(also see
www.reading.ac.uk/cls/ward.html).
Rachel Kennell
rachel.kennell@nhs.net
Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and
Clinical Lead for Paediatric Dysfluency in Oxfordshire, Rachel first
came to the Apple House in 2001. Before training as a speech and
language therapist she previously worked for fifteen years as a curator
and art historian.
Paul Mann
paul.mann@nhs.net
Originally from Derbyshire, he trained and graduated at
Sheffield University in 2006. Employed by Community Health Oxfordshire,
working with both pre - and school age children with a range of
communication needs. He became a specialist in child fluency in 2009 and
began working at the Apple House.
Stuttering and Cluttering
- Frameworks for Understanding and Treatment
by David
Ward. Published 2006. BOOK REVIEW
The Oxford
Stammer Programme
Based at The Apple House, the Oxford
Stammer Programme offers a variety of therapeutic options for adults,
school-age children and pre-school children.
Individual and group therapies and an early intervention
programme are available to meet the needs of those with stammer and
fluency difficulties.
  
Children’s Drawings as a
Measure of Change. Extract from a Newsletter
article
Drawings from a recent school age children group:
James age 9, Lewis age 9,
Freddie age 9
The Apple
House Story. Extract from a Newsletter article
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