In a groundbreaking alliance, the Stuttering Foundation of America has agreed to support the work of the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children over the next two years. This will provide essential help for children and teenagers who stammer, through research, treatment and training programmes.
The move is a lifeline for the Centre, which faced a cash crisis at the end of 2006 because of upheavals in NHS funding and changes to referral arrangements.
The Stuttering Foundation is the leading US-based non profit organisation dedicated to the prevention and treatment of stammering (the disorder is usually referred to as `stuttering` in the US). Its publications reach people in more than 100 countries each year and it is also active in training speech and language pathologists by sponsoring training courses.
This is the first direct involvement of the Stuttering Foundation in a treatment programme. In welcoming this magnificent support for the Michael Palin Centre, its manager, Frances Cook said: “This partnership between our two organisations will combine our strengths and serve to benefit our clients and therapists on both sides of the Atlantic”.
“The alliance of the two organisations makes perfect sense” said Jane Fraser, President of the Stuttering Foundation. “The Centre’s top-notch treatment facility means hope for thousands of children who stutter and for some time now has provided an essential training ground for researchers and clinicians.”
