Providing Help to Those who Stutter

Research suggests that 1% of the population stutters. Over 68 million people in the world, 3 million in the US, and nearly 10,000 in northwest Ohio (where I live) stutter. These kids and adults will suffer indignities and be limited by their stutter. Many will live lives that are incomplete. Sadly, appropriate therapy is often not available for people who stutter. I have experienced stuttering in every part of my life. I have been a kid and adult who stutters. It has affected my education, my social life, and my personal health. With some help, and a lot of self-analysis, I claimed my stuttering and made many changes that allowed me to be successful in all aspects of my life.

As I became an adult, I decided to devote my life to helping people who stutter. Over the past 20 years, I have worked as a Board Certified Specialist in Fluency (Stuttering) in the United States, and the only in the Toledo area. I have been active in offering successful therapy and training programs focused on stuttering.

In the past year, I joined AccuTx, a company owned by Emily Russel and Dan Peterson. This local company is focused on serving clinicians and people with communication disorders. The mission of AccuTx is to provide therapy tools, applications, and education for Speech Language Pathologists at an affordable price. My partners and I are developing the AccuTx Center for Stuttering Treatment and Education in the Toledo area. This center will provide state of the art therapy services for people who stutter, as well as educational programs for Speech Language Pathologists interested in helping people who stutter.

Many insurance agencies do not provide support for stuttering therapy. We propose utilizing the HealthCare 3.0 model, which empowers the clinician to treat patients on an individual basis by leveraging the latest technologies and employing subscription-based fee models. This allows the clinician and patient to direct plan of care, not insurance companies, all while reducing the costs of treatment.

We cannot move forward with our clinic due to a lack of funds. To start up the clinical program, we need $7,500 to help reduce the costs of services for our clients. These funds will allow us to open the clinic and provide the help that is necessary to our community, and to those who would need our services outside of the Toledo area.