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From the Editor... |
Oxford Dysfluency Conference: An International Gathering
E-mail: nippold{at}uoregon.edu
Late last summer, before starting my 30th year of teaching at the University of Oregon, I traveled to England to attend my first Oxford Dysfluency Conference (ODC). For many years, I had heard uniformly positive comments about this scientific meeting, held every 3 years at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, to discuss the latest research on the nature and treatment of stuttering. To my delight, this year's event, the 9th ODC, easily lived up to its stellar reputation.
An international gathering, the conference was attended by more than 200 researchers, clinicians, and students from around the world, representing 32 different countries (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United States). Attendees brought diverse sets of cultural and educational backgrounds and belief systems, and all were greeted with genuine respect and enthusiasm. Organized by David Rowley (de Mortfort University, Leicester) and Sharon Millard (Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children, London), the 9th ODC was billed as a meeting that actively encouraged collegial debate and open discussion about stuttering in a warm, friendly, and welcoming environment, where all who attended would feel supported and comfortable expressing their thoughts, opinions, and beliefs.
Indeed, it was this perspective regarding the importance of collegial rather than confrontational debate that drew me to the ODC, for I have long believed that the health of our discipline depends on the degree to which we, as scientists, are willing to engage in sincere, truth-seeking conversations with colleagues whose views may differ from our own. I also believe that this sort of dialogue is essential for our success as interventionists with children, adolescents, and adults who stutter. As promised, the ODC adeptly provided the type of environment where lively and productive discussions frequently took place, not only during the formal presentations, but also during the many informal social events where everyone was encouraged to participate.
Over the 3 days of the conference, a wide range of topics was covered, addressing stuttering through the life span. For example, presenters discussed recent studies that examined co-existing conditions and characteristics of some people who stutter (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, bilingualism); communication attitudes and awareness; language and cognitive abilities; persistence, relapse, and recovery from stuttering; genetic and neurophysiological factors underlying the disorder; brain imaging techniques; temperament issues; counseling of families and clients; and evidence-based treatment and intervention models for children, adolescents, and adults. Of particular interest to me was a preliminary report of a longitudinal study of a large cohort of children, whose language and cognitive development has been tracked since infancy, examining differences between those who had begun to stutter and those who had remained fluent (Reilly et al., 2011). I look forward to hearing more about the findings, especially as the investigators continue to track the children into the school years, because all participants, including those who had begun to stutter, represented community samples rather than clinical samples; thus, the results may differ from previous studies that posed similar questions.
As the conference drew to a close, I took some time to run along the trails near Magdalen College, Christ Church Meadow, and the River Thames, drawing inspiration from the quiet peacefulness of this section of Oxford with its occasional hooting owl or hopping magpie. Later, as I headed over to the Iffley Road track to remember the world's first sub 4–min mile (Sir Roger Bannister, 1954), I reflected on how much I had gained from my time at the ODC and the opportunity to interact with colleagues and contribute to the spirit of this remarkable event.
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- Reilly, S., Onslow, M., Packman, A., Cini, E., Conway, L., & Oukumunne, O. (2011, September). Characteristics of preschool children with a history of stuttering onset: Results from a prospective community study. Invited presentation at the Oxford Dysfluency Conference, Oxford University, UK.
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