Leys Geddes
06-09-2010, 03:15 PM
Misleading cls for stammering/stuttering treatments give false hopes to people who stammer/stutter and give a false impression of our condition to those who don’t. The truth is that there is no universal ‘cure’ and very few adults recover. That is why, two years ago, the BSA made a commitment to stop these cls - and within the UK we have seen some considerable success.
But, as the web is international, it has been difficult to stamp them out worldwide. So we approached authoritative organisations in other countries, particularly the States, asking for their support. Many have come on board but, disappointingly, the American Speech-Hearing-Language (ASHA) declined, explaining that, in their view, these cls were simply a case of ‘let the buyer beware’.
Peter Reitzes, MA CCC-SLP, an ASHA member and co-host of the StutterTalk podcast, has done a great deal of valuable work in trying to stop misleading cls. Recently he has been encouraging ASHA to ask its member SLPs to stop marketing treatments with statements such as “Discover how to stop stuttering” and “12 Days to Fluent Speech”. ASHA, however, have not accepted that they should take any responsibility, or any action, which might prevent its members from making these kinds of cls.
So, today, Peter and Dr. Phil Schneider (a highly respected speech-language pathologist in the States) have made public a petition, ‘ASHA Needs to Actively Enforce its Code of Ethics’. It's on the StutterTalk site and a copy is pasted below.
It is both brave and sad that two SLPs, and ASHA members, must ask for support from the outside world to fight against a refusal by their own professional body to uphold such a straightforward ethical issue.
Peter says “For me, the petition is important because, as a person who stutters, I know the desperation that comes with feeling out of control of my speech. When I was in a very bad place with my stuttering, I was not thinking critically about finding a speech-language pathologist. I just trusted that the specialist I found would know best. I was lucky to find a thoughtful and honest therapist. But I think of the damage that could have been done if I would have ended up with a pathologist who may have promised me fluency in 12 days. If one doesn’t reach fluency in 12 days, or if one doesn’t stop stuttering, who does the stutterer blame? Probably him or herself - not the treatment provider who has made the unrealistic promises. Now that I am a speech-language pathologist, I see the damage that is done when people who stutter come to me feeling like failures because a former therapist promised them fluency, and yet they still stutter.”
We need to stand together on these issues, so your signature is very important. Please add your signature, saying whether you stutter and from which country you come or to which organisation or stammering/stuttering association you belong. To sign, all you have to do is send an email to Peter Reitzes - preitzes at yahoo dot com The list of signatories to the petition will be updated regularly.
LEYS
Person who stammers
Member and Chair, British Stammering Association
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASHA Needs to Actively Enforce its Code of Ethics
Arlene A. Pietranton, Executive Director
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
2200 Research Blvd., Mail Stop #309
Rockville, MD 20850-3289
PETITION
We, the signatories, petition the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) to rigorously enforce compliance to its self-imposed Code of Ethics.
ASHA could not be clearer in its intention to protect consumers. Principle of Ethics I, Rule J states that “Individuals shall not guarantee the results of any treatment or procedure, directly or by implication.”
However, such promises of specific outcomes in stuttering are widespread.
Some websites of ASHA members market their treatment of stuttering with statements like “12 Days to Fluent Speech,” “discover how to stop stuttering,” and “You'll no longer fear social functions, avoid ordering food at a drive through, or keep quiet when you really want to speak out” (see appendix).
Such advertits clearly violate ethical and professional conduct as intended by ASHA. These promises provide people who stutter and their families with unrealistic outcomes and they also mislead professionals and the public into believing in the availability of a quick fix for stuttering. Such cls are hurtful to both consumers and professionals.
Unfortunately, ASHA does not actively enforce compliance with its ethics code regarding advertising outcomes. If ASHA credentials are to have any meaning, they must represent not just knowledge and skill, but also the ethics required to protect consumers and the public by action and not just by words.
Most members of ASHA do not have the time to spend dozens of hours filling out ethical complaint forms, calling and writing letters to members who may be in violation of the Code of Ethics and cannot afford to fight off frivolous lawsuits that may result from pursuing ethical concerns. Yet ASHA reported in 2007 having more than 106 million dollars in total assets. Clearly ASHA has the resources, the power and the structure, if it has the interest, resolve and determination, to enforce its own Code of Ethics.
We, the signatories, petition ASHA to implement procedures to encourage compliance with its ethics policy regarding comments by clinicians advertising the outcome of their therapy procedures. Specifically, ASHA could confidentially review public marketing statements used by members after being made anonymously aware by members or the public. Following a preliminary check, the statement(s) in question could then be referred to ASHA's ethics committee for review and the committee could decide explicitly and in writing whether they violate our Code of Ethics with regard to promising outcomes.
ASHA's officers and ethics committee have a responsibility for enforcing the basic principles of ethical conduct by clinicians who promise uniformly successful outcomes. Any marketing and advertising statements made by ASHA members that have the potential to mislead our patients and clients should not be tolerated. Enforcing our standards and ethics in advertising helps us to elevate our commitment to those we serve. ASHA’s current “buyer beware” approach towards the marketing done by its members is not in the best interest of consumers, the public and the professions.
We look forward to a timely response to these concerns, addressed to the corresponding authors below, Peter Reitzes and Phil Schneider (338 14th St. Apt. 1L Brooklyn, NY 11215; preitzes at yahoo dot com)
Appendix
After doing a Google search on the word “stuttering,” in the sponsored links section one of the first results returned says “12 Days to Fluent Speech.” Under this search result it says “Eastern Virginia Medical School. Board Recognized Fluency Specialist.” The link directs you to the website of Ross S. Barrett, M.A. CCC/SLP.
After doing a Google search on the term “stuttering therapy” one of the first search result states, “Stuttering help - discover how to stop stuttering - stuttering therapy that works.” The search result was for the website of Mark Power, MA CCC-SLP, Board Certified Fluency Specialist.
All of the following websites express identical wording promising the following outcome from therapy: “You'll no longer fear social functions, avoid ordering food at a drive through, or keep quiet when you really want to speak out."
Signatories:
Peter Reitzes, MA CCC-SLP
Co-host, StutterTalk Podcast
Phil Schneider, Ed.D. CCC-SLP
Board Recognized Fluency Specialist
Associate Professor Emeritus, Queens College, City University of New York
National Stuttering Association Speech Pathologist of the Year, 2004
Jane Fraser
President, Stuttering Foundation of America
Ernie Canadeo
Board Chairman, National Stuttering Association
Robert W. Quesal, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BRS-FD
ASHA Fellow
Vice-Chair for Speech-Language Pathology, Council on Academic Accreditation
Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Western Illinois University
Gary J. Rentschler, Ph.D. CCC-SLP
Board Recognized Fluency Specialist
Department of Speech-Language Pathology
Duquesne University
Walt Manning, Ph.D.
Professor & Associate Dean
School of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology
The University of Memphis
Memphis Speech & Hearing Center
Barry Guitar, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Professor Communication Sciences; Adjunct Professor of Psychology and Education
University of Vermont
Author of Stuttering: An Integrated Approach to Its Nature and Treatment and Co-Editor of Treatment of Stuttering: Established and Emerging Interventions
John A. Tetnowski, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BRS/M-FD
Ben Blanco/BoRSF Endowed Professor in Communicative Disorders
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Peter R. Ramig, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Professor
Department of Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences
University of Colorado
Bill Murphy M.A. CCC-SLP
Clinical Professor
ASHA Fellow
Board Recognized Specialist in Fluency Disorders
Dept. of Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN
Charlie Osborne, M.A., CCC-SLP
Assistant Clinical Professor
Center for Communicative Disorders
University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
Kim Krieger MS, CCC-SP
Board Recognized Specialist-Fluency Disorders
Director of the Successful Stuttering Management Program and SLP for the Mead School District
Adriana DiGrande, MS, CCC-SP
Board Recognized Specialist-Fluency Disorders
Director, New England Fluency Program
Lexington, MA
Tom Weidig, Ph.D.
The Stuttering Brain Blog
Former Trustee of British Stammering Association (BSA)
Former Chair of the BSA Research Committee
Leys Geddes
Chair, British Stammering Association
Russ Hicks
Person Who Stutters (significantly)
Member of the National Stuttering Association
Distinguished Toastmaster
Toastmasters International
Retired Computer Systems Consultant
Texas Instruments Incorporated
Dallas, Texas
Cathy Olish
Person Who Stutters
Member, National Stuttering Association
National Stuttering Association Board of Director
Co-Chapter Leader for the Royal Oak NSA Adult and Kids/TWST Chapters
Co-founder, Covert Stuttering Email Group
Eric Jackson, M.S.
Co-host: StutterTalk podcast
Adjunct Assistant Professor - Long Island University
Uri Schneider, MA, CCC-SLP
Schneider Speech Pathology
Andrew Floyd, MA CCC-SLP
SLP and Person Who Stutters
Nina Ghiselli, Psy.D., Psychologist
Person Who Stutters
Co-chapter Leader, National Stuttering Association
But, as the web is international, it has been difficult to stamp them out worldwide. So we approached authoritative organisations in other countries, particularly the States, asking for their support. Many have come on board but, disappointingly, the American Speech-Hearing-Language (ASHA) declined, explaining that, in their view, these cls were simply a case of ‘let the buyer beware’.
Peter Reitzes, MA CCC-SLP, an ASHA member and co-host of the StutterTalk podcast, has done a great deal of valuable work in trying to stop misleading cls. Recently he has been encouraging ASHA to ask its member SLPs to stop marketing treatments with statements such as “Discover how to stop stuttering” and “12 Days to Fluent Speech”. ASHA, however, have not accepted that they should take any responsibility, or any action, which might prevent its members from making these kinds of cls.
So, today, Peter and Dr. Phil Schneider (a highly respected speech-language pathologist in the States) have made public a petition, ‘ASHA Needs to Actively Enforce its Code of Ethics’. It's on the StutterTalk site and a copy is pasted below.
It is both brave and sad that two SLPs, and ASHA members, must ask for support from the outside world to fight against a refusal by their own professional body to uphold such a straightforward ethical issue.
Peter says “For me, the petition is important because, as a person who stutters, I know the desperation that comes with feeling out of control of my speech. When I was in a very bad place with my stuttering, I was not thinking critically about finding a speech-language pathologist. I just trusted that the specialist I found would know best. I was lucky to find a thoughtful and honest therapist. But I think of the damage that could have been done if I would have ended up with a pathologist who may have promised me fluency in 12 days. If one doesn’t reach fluency in 12 days, or if one doesn’t stop stuttering, who does the stutterer blame? Probably him or herself - not the treatment provider who has made the unrealistic promises. Now that I am a speech-language pathologist, I see the damage that is done when people who stutter come to me feeling like failures because a former therapist promised them fluency, and yet they still stutter.”
We need to stand together on these issues, so your signature is very important. Please add your signature, saying whether you stutter and from which country you come or to which organisation or stammering/stuttering association you belong. To sign, all you have to do is send an email to Peter Reitzes - preitzes at yahoo dot com The list of signatories to the petition will be updated regularly.
LEYS
Person who stammers
Member and Chair, British Stammering Association
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASHA Needs to Actively Enforce its Code of Ethics
Arlene A. Pietranton, Executive Director
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
2200 Research Blvd., Mail Stop #309
Rockville, MD 20850-3289
PETITION
We, the signatories, petition the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) to rigorously enforce compliance to its self-imposed Code of Ethics.
ASHA could not be clearer in its intention to protect consumers. Principle of Ethics I, Rule J states that “Individuals shall not guarantee the results of any treatment or procedure, directly or by implication.”
However, such promises of specific outcomes in stuttering are widespread.
Some websites of ASHA members market their treatment of stuttering with statements like “12 Days to Fluent Speech,” “discover how to stop stuttering,” and “You'll no longer fear social functions, avoid ordering food at a drive through, or keep quiet when you really want to speak out” (see appendix).
Such advertits clearly violate ethical and professional conduct as intended by ASHA. These promises provide people who stutter and their families with unrealistic outcomes and they also mislead professionals and the public into believing in the availability of a quick fix for stuttering. Such cls are hurtful to both consumers and professionals.
Unfortunately, ASHA does not actively enforce compliance with its ethics code regarding advertising outcomes. If ASHA credentials are to have any meaning, they must represent not just knowledge and skill, but also the ethics required to protect consumers and the public by action and not just by words.
Most members of ASHA do not have the time to spend dozens of hours filling out ethical complaint forms, calling and writing letters to members who may be in violation of the Code of Ethics and cannot afford to fight off frivolous lawsuits that may result from pursuing ethical concerns. Yet ASHA reported in 2007 having more than 106 million dollars in total assets. Clearly ASHA has the resources, the power and the structure, if it has the interest, resolve and determination, to enforce its own Code of Ethics.
We, the signatories, petition ASHA to implement procedures to encourage compliance with its ethics policy regarding comments by clinicians advertising the outcome of their therapy procedures. Specifically, ASHA could confidentially review public marketing statements used by members after being made anonymously aware by members or the public. Following a preliminary check, the statement(s) in question could then be referred to ASHA's ethics committee for review and the committee could decide explicitly and in writing whether they violate our Code of Ethics with regard to promising outcomes.
ASHA's officers and ethics committee have a responsibility for enforcing the basic principles of ethical conduct by clinicians who promise uniformly successful outcomes. Any marketing and advertising statements made by ASHA members that have the potential to mislead our patients and clients should not be tolerated. Enforcing our standards and ethics in advertising helps us to elevate our commitment to those we serve. ASHA’s current “buyer beware” approach towards the marketing done by its members is not in the best interest of consumers, the public and the professions.
We look forward to a timely response to these concerns, addressed to the corresponding authors below, Peter Reitzes and Phil Schneider (338 14th St. Apt. 1L Brooklyn, NY 11215; preitzes at yahoo dot com)
Appendix
After doing a Google search on the word “stuttering,” in the sponsored links section one of the first results returned says “12 Days to Fluent Speech.” Under this search result it says “Eastern Virginia Medical School. Board Recognized Fluency Specialist.” The link directs you to the website of Ross S. Barrett, M.A. CCC/SLP.
After doing a Google search on the term “stuttering therapy” one of the first search result states, “Stuttering help - discover how to stop stuttering - stuttering therapy that works.” The search result was for the website of Mark Power, MA CCC-SLP, Board Certified Fluency Specialist.
All of the following websites express identical wording promising the following outcome from therapy: “You'll no longer fear social functions, avoid ordering food at a drive through, or keep quiet when you really want to speak out."
Signatories:
Peter Reitzes, MA CCC-SLP
Co-host, StutterTalk Podcast
Phil Schneider, Ed.D. CCC-SLP
Board Recognized Fluency Specialist
Associate Professor Emeritus, Queens College, City University of New York
National Stuttering Association Speech Pathologist of the Year, 2004
Jane Fraser
President, Stuttering Foundation of America
Ernie Canadeo
Board Chairman, National Stuttering Association
Robert W. Quesal, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BRS-FD
ASHA Fellow
Vice-Chair for Speech-Language Pathology, Council on Academic Accreditation
Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Western Illinois University
Gary J. Rentschler, Ph.D. CCC-SLP
Board Recognized Fluency Specialist
Department of Speech-Language Pathology
Duquesne University
Walt Manning, Ph.D.
Professor & Associate Dean
School of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology
The University of Memphis
Memphis Speech & Hearing Center
Barry Guitar, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Professor Communication Sciences; Adjunct Professor of Psychology and Education
University of Vermont
Author of Stuttering: An Integrated Approach to Its Nature and Treatment and Co-Editor of Treatment of Stuttering: Established and Emerging Interventions
John A. Tetnowski, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BRS/M-FD
Ben Blanco/BoRSF Endowed Professor in Communicative Disorders
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Peter R. Ramig, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Professor
Department of Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences
University of Colorado
Bill Murphy M.A. CCC-SLP
Clinical Professor
ASHA Fellow
Board Recognized Specialist in Fluency Disorders
Dept. of Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN
Charlie Osborne, M.A., CCC-SLP
Assistant Clinical Professor
Center for Communicative Disorders
University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
Kim Krieger MS, CCC-SP
Board Recognized Specialist-Fluency Disorders
Director of the Successful Stuttering Management Program and SLP for the Mead School District
Adriana DiGrande, MS, CCC-SP
Board Recognized Specialist-Fluency Disorders
Director, New England Fluency Program
Lexington, MA
Tom Weidig, Ph.D.
The Stuttering Brain Blog
Former Trustee of British Stammering Association (BSA)
Former Chair of the BSA Research Committee
Leys Geddes
Chair, British Stammering Association
Russ Hicks
Person Who Stutters (significantly)
Member of the National Stuttering Association
Distinguished Toastmaster
Toastmasters International
Retired Computer Systems Consultant
Texas Instruments Incorporated
Dallas, Texas
Cathy Olish
Person Who Stutters
Member, National Stuttering Association
National Stuttering Association Board of Director
Co-Chapter Leader for the Royal Oak NSA Adult and Kids/TWST Chapters
Co-founder, Covert Stuttering Email Group
Eric Jackson, M.S.
Co-host: StutterTalk podcast
Adjunct Assistant Professor - Long Island University
Uri Schneider, MA, CCC-SLP
Schneider Speech Pathology
Andrew Floyd, MA CCC-SLP
SLP and Person Who Stutters
Nina Ghiselli, Psy.D., Psychologist
Person Who Stutters
Co-chapter Leader, National Stuttering Association