School of Communication Science and Disorders (SCSD) Assistant Professor Christopher Constantino presented a keynote at the 2024 World Congress on Stuttering and Cluttering in Austin, Texas, titled “Disfluency as an act of love.”

The World Congress is an international gathering of experts on stuttering and cluttering that occurs every three years. Constantino’s keynote was an attempt to reframe stuttering and cluttering away from something negative that detracts from lives and toward a positive, meaningful part of lives.

“It is always important to take parts in high-level conversations and debates in the field,” Constantino said. “By participating, we share our views, but we also allow our view to be shaped by others who share theirs. Isolated thinking is bad thinking. The sharing of ideas is important for progress.”

Part of Constantino’s abstract from the keynote reads “In this talk, I propose that by stuttering and cluttering openly and sincerely we are able to share more of ourselves with others and therefore enter into a deeper communion than would be possible if we hid our disfluencies. Stuttering and cluttering introduce vulnerability into our conversations that would be absent had we been fluent.”

Constantino presented on several panels on pedagogy and how to teach stuttering treatment to graduate students. He was also involved in discussions of clinical topics concerned with the treatment of stuttering.

The conference presented Constantino with the “World Stuttering & Cluttering Organization Researcher Award” to honor and acknowledge his efforts. The College of Communication and Information congratulations Dr. Constantino on his achievement.