Starfish Project

The Starfish Project can refer to two different programs, one in the US for promoting community volunteering, and other in the UK for the developmente of people stammering.

Starfish Project for Children (US)

The primary work of the Starfish Project for Children is motivating school aged children, kindergarten through twelfth grade, to engage in community service through competing for age appropriate awards and community recognition, and, providing connection to an organized effort. The Starfish Project for Children exists so that children can discover the internal satisfaction that engaging in community service can bring them. We believe that commitment to community service is “caught not taught.” The Starfish Project experience is designed to build a foundation for a lifetime that includes community service.

Starfish Project (UK)

The Starfish Project is a UK-based not-for-profit therapy programme which helps people who stammer or stutter to overcome their speech disfluencies through the use of diaphragmatic breathing (also known as costal breathing). The programme also teaches participants to reassess negative emotions surrounding their stammering through the use of avoidance reduction therapy, a form of stuttering modification (see stuttering therapy).[1]

Students attend a three-day residential course during which a diaphragmatic breathing technique and non-avoidance strategies are taught. Following on from this initial course graduates are able to attend additional 'follow-up' courses without charge as often as they feel necessary. Graduates are also encouraged to make use of a list of phone contacts and can attend free monthly support meetings at various locations around the UK.

Although diaphragmatic or costal breathing can be an effective way for stammerers to manage their condition, it should not be regarded as a cure.[2] In addition to the Starfish Project, a similar breathing technique is used by other stammering treatment initiatives including the McGuire Programme.

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.starfishproject.co.uk/about-starfish-project.htm
  2. ↑ See and for a selection of third-party newspaper and magazine clippings.