The 'Dream-Speak-Live Camp', organized in collaboration with Üsküdar University and the University of Texas Arthur M. Blank Stuttering Center, brought together school-aged children who stutter for the second time. During the five-day program, children developed their communication, self-advocacy, and psychological resilience skills while meeting their peers from the Netherlands, Malta, Germany, Pakistan, and Portugal in an online environment.
Head of the Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Prof. Ahmet Konrot, said, “In the Dream-Speak-Live Camp, we are not trying to teach children how to speak. We are creating an environment where they can discover their own communication strengths. Because the real issue is not how fluently we speak, but how strongly we can communicate.”
The Dream-Speak-Live Camp (CDSL), organized in collaboration with Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Üsküdar University Speech Disorders Research and Application Center (ÜSESKOM), and the University of Texas Arthur M. Blank Stuttering Center, was held in the multi-purpose hall of Üsküdar University NP Sağlık Yerleşkesi.
The camp, organized for school-aged children who stutter and held for the second time this year, was conducted under the coordination of Prof. Ahmet Konrot, faculty member of Üsküdar University Department of Speech and Language Therapy, and Assoc. Prof. Ayşe Aydın Uysal.
The Stutterers Association also supported the camp, which was attended by academics and volunteer students from Speech and Language Therapy departments of various universities in Turkey.
Prof. Ahmet Konrot: “The real issue is not how fluently we speak, but how strongly we can communicate”
Prof. Ahmet Konrot, Head of Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences Department of Speech and Language Therapy, evaluating the camp’s fundamental approach, emphasized that approaching stuttering solely through speech fluency is not sufficient to understand children's communication experience.
Konrot stated that the primary need of a child who stutters is not always to speak more fluently; “It is very important for the child to be able to express themselves, not to avoid speaking, to stay in communication, and to know that what they have to say is valuable. In the Dream-Speak-Live Camp, we are not trying to teach children how to speak. We are creating an environment where they can discover their own communication strengths. Because the real issue is not how fluently we speak, but how strongly we can communicate.” he said.
“Meeting with stuttering peers from different countries is an important experience”
Konrot pointed out that it is an important experience for children participating in the camp to meet with adults who stutter and with stuttering peers from different countries around the world; “For a child, the experience of ‘There are other people who speak like me, and they can exist in all areas of life’ is extremely valuable. For children to see stuttering not just as an individual difficulty, but as a human experience encountered in different societies and cultures around the world, can change their perspective on themselves and communication.” he stated.
Children developed their communication skills through experience
The camp team, which included adults who stutter and work as speech and language therapists, provided a real-life-connected, participatory, and experience-based learning environment for children.
Through group-based activities, children were supported in gaining knowledge and skills in effective communication, self-advocacy, acquiring current and accurate information about stuttering, and psychological resilience.
Children, who put what they learned into practice throughout the camp, had the opportunity to experience how to transfer the skills they acquired to their daily lives and how to use them in different communication settings.
Assoc. Prof. Ayşe Aydın Uysal: “Being able to use what they learned in real life is one of our most important goals”
Assoc. Prof. Ayşe Aydın Uysal, an instructor in Speech and Language Therapy and one of the camp's coordinators, stated that the program focuses not only on children acquiring knowledge but also on experiencing what they learn and transferring it to their daily lives. Uysal said; “Throughout the camp, we worked with our children in many areas such as communication, self-advocacy, current information about stuttering, and resilience. However, what is important for us is that this information does not remain only within the camp environment. For children to apply what they have learned, relate it to their own experiences, and discover how they can use it in their daily lives is one of the most important goals of the program.”
“The group setting shows children that they are not alone”
Uysal stated that the group-based structure of the camp offers children a significant sharing space; “The group setting provides children with the opportunity to see that they are not alone, to learn from each other's experiences, and to try new communication methods in a safe environment. Children demonstrating the skills they acquired at the end of five days in front of their families and participants was one of the most meaningful indicators of the progress made throughout the camp.” she said.
They met online with stuttering peers in five countries
One of the notable activities of the camp was the international online meetings.
Children participating in the camp met with their school-aged stuttering peers participating in the same program in the Netherlands, Malta, Germany, Pakistan, and Portugal on online platforms.
Children who met peers speaking different languages and living in different cultures directly experienced that stuttering is a condition that can be observed in various societies and cultures worldwide.
Through these meetings, children had the opportunity to learn by experience that what is important in communication is not just speaking fluently, but expressing oneself, sharing, and understanding each other.
Adults who stutter shared their experiences with children and their families
In the closing session, adults who stutter and participated in the camp also shared their life experiences, conveying their thoughts and feelings to children and their families.
Speaking on behalf of the Stutterers Association, Dr. Erkan Erener shared his own experiences as an academic who stutters, as well as the aims and activities of the Stutterers Association.
The sharing of life experiences by adults who stutter with children also strengthened the intergenerational interaction dimension of the camp. Children had the opportunity to directly see adults who stutter, just like them, actively participating in academic and professional life and to listen to their experiences.
Children discovered their communication strengths
The Dream-Speak-Live Camp went beyond being just an event where children learned about stuttering.
The camp offered a powerful social learning environment where children expressed themselves, shared their experiences, discovered their communication strengths, and met with peers from different countries around the world in a shared experience.
