Bowen's Home Page and Start Page Kuster's Net Connections and SHP

The two primary features of the Internet are discussion forums and web sites. Each holds many treasures for professionals interested in fluency and fluency disorders. 

In this article we provide an overview of both, and how to access them. We broach some important considerations for professionals, in terms of their own Internet use, and in terms of the guidance they might provide to consumers of speech therapy services when helping them to understand the problems and potential value of Internet information about stuttering.

Discussion Forums
The Internet provides three primary types of open discussion opportunities: mailing lists, newsgroups, and chatrooms. 

Mailing lists and newsgroups are asynchronous, meaning that you do not have to be online simultaneously in order to participate. 

Chatrooms, on the other hand, are synchronous, and people who are using them are all online at the same time (but very frequently in different time zones). 

In general, discussion forums do not provide well-documented information, but they can be a rich and interesting source of personal insights and opinions about stuttering and its treatment, especially from consumers. 

Mailing Lists
Mailing lists are ‘moderated’ groups that you ‘subscribe’ to. Although the term ‘subscribe’ suggests that there is a fee involved, there is not. Mailing list participation is absolutely free. The list owner (moderator) establishes the rules under which the list functions. 

The original mailing lists consisted of email messages only, delivered individually or in the form of digests. Nowadays, an increasing proportion of mailing lists are also available through the web (not just through email). 

Participation in some mailing lists is open to anyone, while for others the list owner approves new members. For example some lists are for professionals only, ASHA members only, and so on. 

All mail sent to a mailing list is distributed to all members. Members may also conduct private discussions ‘off the list’ about topics that do not interest all members. 

These types of mailing lists are still functional, and important resources. Several mailing lists about stuttering maintain archives, where past discussion can be searched. 

stutt-l
Mailing lists about stuttering were developed before the World Wide Web was opened. 

The first list, stutt-l@listserv.temple.edu , was created by C. Woodruff Starkweather. Originally opened in 1989 to facilitate the exchange of information among researchers working on the problem of stuttering, stutt-l is still active.  The list has evolved to an "electronic self-help group" which welcomes professionals, students, and consumers. 

It can be joined through either web-based subscription or by email. When subscribing by email, send the message <subscribe stutt-l yourfirstname yourlastname> to listserv@listserv.temple.edu. After your subscription has been accepted, you can participate in the discussion by emailing messages to stutt-l@listserv.temple.edu. 

For web-based subscription, click here [sorry, this link died after we wrote this article] and select "Join or leave the list (or change settings)". Then on the resulting screen fill in your name and email address and press "Join the list." The same URL allows members to access the archives, which can be searched by  keyword.

The early mailing lists about stuttering were formed and hosted by the academic community who had access to the technology necessary for creating them. More recently anyone can create free mailing lists using services such as Yahoo! groups, and there are currently many lists that have been formed. 

For additional mailing lists about stuttering, the interested reader is directed to a section of The Stuttering Home Page under the heading "Discussion forums and E-Publications".

Newsgroups
Newsgroups are unmoderated discussion forums which means anyone with Internet access can post anything on a bulletin board or threaded discussion feature. 

There is one newsgroups about stuttering, that can be accessed through a web browser by entering the URL news:alt.support.stuttering. Notice there are no forward slashes ( //'s) in newsgroup URLs. Because there is no moderator, this newsgroup tends to have a lot of unrelated and marginal posts, although at times can provide interesting discussion.

Chatrooms 
Chatrooms use a technology that allows real time conversations with others using a web browser. 

Chatrooms that use an exchange in writing are currently available to both Macintosh and PC users. There are also chatrooms that provide a "talk" function for PC users. 

Starting in November 1997, The Stuttering Home Page provided the first online chatroom for people who stutter. 

The most active real-time chatrooms for people who stutter are Stuttering Chat which has a web site and a mailing list; and Stuttering Support which also has a web site [sorry, dead too] and a mailing list. To join either group, access their web page and follow the directions. 

• are designed to connect researchers with subjects
• are designed to to report research results
• provide journal services and electronic journals 
• provide online bibliographies 
• provide online conferences and conference papers 
• are designed primarily to provide information 
• are designed to advertise a product or program 

Search Engines
Because Internet information about stuttering proliferates rapidly, relevant (and accurate) material is often difficult to sift out from the inevitable dross. The most common technique for finding information on a particular topic is using an automated search engine or directory.

Typically, these search methods return numerous websites that may be relevant to the search request, based either on the presence of certain key words on the web page or on detailed indexes of web pages maintained by the company that provides the directory.

On the day this was written, the search engine Google uncovered 124,000 "hits" with the key word ‘stuttering’. AllTheWeb found 57,420, while Yahoo! brought back 58.

Because of the vast number of websites available for consideration, these search methods are highly automated. As a result, anyone can put something on the Internet and have it appear using these search strategies.

Web Sites
The quality of material on the Internet varies dramatically in most topic areas, and this is particularly true with regard to information about stuttering. For this reason, using good judgment is imperative not only for speech-language pathologists, but also for our consumers. We must help consumers learn to be cautious about some of the information they discover on the Internet. 

Although the ability to incorporate information from a wide variety of sources is one of the strengths of the Internet, it is also a major area of concern. Unlike refereed journals, there is no peer-review process on the Internet, so the information obtained by anyone performing searches may or may not be relevant, accurate, or appropriate, and hence confusing and misleading, not only to discerning professionals, but to the general public too. 

• Determine the purpose of the site
  It should be clear to the reader who the target audience is. Try to determine why the author is trying to reach this particular audience. Is the site designed to provide broad-based or specialized information? Some Internet resources about stuttering are aimed at consumers. Many are basically trying to sell a program or a product. Other sites are designed for professionals. Still other sites target researchers.

• Determine the authority of the author(s)
  Who is the source and what are this person's qualifications related to sharing information about stuttering? Is there a mail-to link where you can find out more about the author?

• Evaluate the site's content
  Websites are rarely "reviewed" or "refereed" like journals and books, so the reader has to be especially careful in evaluating content. 

  Is the information accurate according to what you read in journals and learned in your educational program? 

  Are there typographical errors in the text that can produce inaccuracies? For example, the statement, "The aetiology of stuttering is now fully understood" is not the same message as "The aetiology of stuttering is not fully understood." 

  Sources of factual information should be clearly provided. Look for evidence of bias. Does the information provided on the website in anyway compromise the ethical standards under which certified clinicians deliver services? For example, is it offering treatment solely by correspondence, promising unrealistic results, or guaranteeing a "cure" for stuttering? Is the site complete or continuously updated? Either of these alternatives may be appropriate, but the visitor should be told this information. Is it current?

• Evaluate the site's functionality
  Finally, evaluate the style and functionality of the website. Is it clearly and logically organized and easy to navigate? Are external links functional? Is there a search engine on the site? Does the site load quickly? Is it functional for people with disabilities? 

Journal services and electronic publications (e-publications)
Full-text journal articles are also available online. Some are available only to association members or by subscription. Others provide only a table of contents and article abstracts. Yet other resources, such as the search engine Northernlight.com, provide some journal articles for a fee. 

ASHA Desk Reference & Journals
Journal of Fluency Disorders
Student Research Papers CSU, Hayward
Online Student Journal

Online bibliographies
There are several extensive bibliographies of stuttering-related research available. Some contain just the citation while others are briefly annotated with information about the article.  

Stuttering Bibliography for 1976-1981 by Andreas Starke
International Fluency Association - bibliography
Charles van Riper
Wendall Johnson
Cluttering bibliography
Neurogenic Stuttering
Kuster's annotated bibliography (> 70 pages)

Conferences and
conference papers
The Internet has become a repository for conference papers delivered by professionals around the world, although they are sometimes difficult to find. A few examples are provided below. 

CAPS Ottawa '93 Conference [dead link]
A neurological basis for stuttering [dead]
Stuttering Scripts William S. Rosenthal
PowerPoint conference presentations J. Scott Yaruss [gone]
and more (you can guess where!)

The online conferences are associated with International Stuttering Awareness Day, designated for professionals and consumers to learn with and from each other about stuttering.  

Both professionals and people who stutter from around the world are invited to submit papers by the convener of the conference, Judith Kuster. 

Each paper is placed online with a threaded discussions attached.  Threaded discussions allow conference participants to comment on or raise questions about the papers. The presenters have agreed to respond before the end of the conference. 

Since 1998 the presenters have represented 26 countries and participants have come from 56 different countries. In 2001 there were nearly 7000 visitors to the conference. During the three weeks the conference was open, the attendance for a single session (number of times a paper has been read) has ranged from 85 (which would be a good attendance at a single conference session) to 371. The participants included approximately 1/3 professionals, 1/3 consumers, and 1/3 students in communication disorders programs throughout the world.  

Papers and threaded discussions from the conferences remain online (see 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001). A fifth ISAD conference will be online from October 1, 2002. 

Others selling a product or program
Although good information and legitimate products are offered on some of the following websites, these types of websites may deserve even more careful scrutiny.  

Two heads...
Judith Maginnis Kuster of Minnesota State University, Mankato is well known in Speech-Language Pathology Internet circles for her web sites,  The Stuttering Home Page and the encyclopaedic Net Connections, for her Internet column in the ASHA Leader, and numerous other publications. This article, written in collaboration with Caroline Bowen, can be found in print form in the June 2002 issue of Speech-Pathology Australia's clinical and professional journal, ACQ. 

Page updated 23 Mar 2010

http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/jmk-cb.htm