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Get the CARE Manual

As a thank you for your contribution of $75 or more, you are offered a copy of the Blank Center CARE™ Model: Application for School-Age Children Who Stutter. To obtain your copy, send your gift confirmation email and your mailing address to stuttering@austin.utexas.edu. The fair market value of the CARE Manual is $50, and the remaining portion of your gift will be tax-deductible. Your contribution will be directed to the Dream. Speak. Live. Endowed Excellence Fund.
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CARE Model Rationale

The Blank Center CARE™ Model offers a distinct, non-ableist approach to stuttering treatment that rests on the evidence-based understanding that when children, teens, and adults…

  1. learn communication is not defined or limited by fluency,
  2. learn to share about their stuttering meaningfully,
  3. develop the resiliency needed to navigate adversity, and
  4. are knowledgeable about stuttering,
…they are empowered to Dream. Speak. Live.®
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Girl accepts award
girl stands and speaks

Inside The Manual:
What To Expect

The manual is divided into four main sections, each detailing one pillar of the Blank Center CARE™ Model.

Every section contains functional outcomes, short-term goals, sample therapy activities that support whole-person CARE, critical reflections, and more. Throughout the manual, you will learn what children, teens, and adults who stutter most wish the world knew about stuttering, as well as how to support caregivers, teachers, and other stakeholders. The array of functional materials provided in the manual will transform your practice. In implementing whole-person CARE, you will not only be helping to empower individuals who stutter to Dream. Speak. Live.® in your setting, you will also be supporting the Blank Center’s mission to end stigmatization on a global scale.

Smiling boy holding certifiate

What Makes the Blank Center CARE™ Model a Distinct Approach to Treatment

  1. No measurement of stuttering for consideration as any direct, indirect, or “natural byproduct” of increased communication or reduced avoidance
  2. No attempts to modify stuttering or increase fluency directly or indirectly
  3. No discussion or positive reference to unintended modification of moments of stuttering or non-targeted increases in fluency
  4. Explicit understanding that any attempts to modify stuttering (reducing tension/”struggle”), conceal stuttering, or increase fluency (facilitating “smooth speech”) will compromise effective communication
  5. Directly teaches children as young as age 3 about stuttering and how to share with others about their stuttering to promote agency and equip children for communication opportunities that occur without caregivers nearby
  6. Support caregivers and other stakeholders to empower their children to communicate and advocate for themselves independently as early as possible
  7. Facilitation of mindfulness, acceptance, and self-compassion to foster resilience in the face of stigma, discrimination, and the pressures of fluency conformity
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lady handing certificate to boy
manual against gray background
boy at podium speaks into microphone
Every Voice Matters
40+
Countries Served:
children through adult at no cost
$250+
Scholarships Funded:
undergraduate through doctorate

Your contribution for the manual will help us change the world.

The Blank Center provides all programming to children, teens, and adults at no cost in 40+ countries, and we are determined to reach every country worldwide. Your contribution will support the global provision of our daily CARE, both in-person and virtual, as well as annual offerings of Camp Dream. Speak. Live. in multiple locations nationally and internationally.

The Blank Center also provides $250k+ in scholarship funding annually to undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students. Your support will enable us to train more stuttering specialists, ensuring every person who stutters has access to quality CARE. Together, we will achieve far more than we have yet to imagine. Together, we will change the world.

The Impact of the CARE Model

The Blank Center CARE™ Model Manual is an invaluable asset for SLPs aiming to holistically work with children who stutter.
Kendra Wagner, M.S., CCC-SLP
Delaware
I truly believe that what my son learned at the Blank Center at such a young age helped give him the confidence to be an amazing leader on and off the pitch.
Keith White, Parent
texas
Stuttering therapy is one of the biggest insecurities of SLPs. Therapists and students alike become frustrated at the lack of progress when progress is defined by increased fluency. The CARE model shifts the focus from fluency to a more holistic approach focusing on communication, advocacy, resiliency, and education. The CARE manual gives therapists a useful platform to apply the pillars of the CARE model into everyday therapy. I have seen an incredibly positive impact on my relationship with stuttering therapy as well as my relationship with my stuttering students! I think every school-based SLP needs this manual on their desk!
​Lauren Scurry, SLP
texas
What I learned from the Blank Center is that if you stutter, don’t ever give up, just keep on trying. Don’t let stuttering stop you from being who you are.
Stephen Washington, Blank Center Participant
atlanta
After seeing the life changing impact of the Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research on my son, I am championing the implementation of the CARE model across every school district in Maryland.
Laurie Daman, Parent
maryland

Stay tuned for updates on our Adult Manual!

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