Innovative improv workshop offered to support young people who stutter
EVANSTON, Ill --- Northwestern University Center for Audiology, Speech, Language and Learning (NUCASLL) in the School of Communication is launching a series of free public workshops using improvision to help young people who stutter. The series titled “Break the Blocks” was successfully piloted last year and is expanding this fall.
“Break the Blocks” is facilitated by Elisha Boxer Magnifico, assistant clinical professor and speech-language pathologist, and David Catlin, head of acting for Northwestern’s Department of Theatre. The workshops are designed for people ages 12 to 18, and a team of graduate and undergraduate students assist.
During the 90-minute sessions, participants take part in a range of improv scenarios. The young people take turns acting and talking in front of each other –– building off each other’s confidence. New for the fall workshops, parents and guardians are offered a separate space nearby to share their own stories and offer support to one another.
Magnifico says the goal is to create an environment where each participant is encouraged, but not required, to take chances.
“We want to break down the blocks and the walls of communication that some of the improvisers might feel in their everyday life,” Magnifico said. “We want them to be able to stutter confidently and not have it be a negative thing.”
Catlin, who is also a founding ensemble member of the Lookingglass Theatre Company, taps into his theater experience and a love for improv to lead the group through the series of games and activities.
“That ability to feel like you’ve helped make a difference in a young person’s life through storytelling, through the act of theater, that you’ve made someone else’s world a little better makes your own world a lot better,” Catlin said. “It’s energizing as an artist to see somebody be that brave and that willing to take a risk.”
The National Stuttering Association reports the speech disorder affects about 1% of the global population, though an estimated 5% of children — perhaps even more — go through a period of stuttering. Stuttering in preschool age children often coincides with the language explosion that happens when their motor system cannot keep up with the expansion of language they’re trying to use. For children who don’t “grow out of it,” the condition can be especially challenging as they age. It often leads to teasing, bullying, social isolation and can cause emotional distress and erode self-confidence.
The series of four weekly workshops will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Mondays – Oct. 7, Oct. 21, Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 at the Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. Space is limited and registration is required. To enroll in the workshop, email NUCASLL@northwestern.edu or call 847-491-3165.
Journalists interested in learning more or attending a workshop should contact Stephen Lewis at stephen.j.lewis@northwestern.edu