NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A summer camp in Nashville is helping children who stutter build confidence and make connections with peers who share similar experiences.
Camp T.A.L.K.S. is organized by Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences. The week-long camp provides a supportive environment where children who stutter can build community and be themselves.
While speech specialists help run the camp, the goal is not to change voices.
"We're not doing speech therapy with these kids every day or training them to speak fluently. The goal is, in fact, that we're trying to make it okay for them to be themselves," said Ryan Millager, Camp T.A.L.K.S. Director, Speech Therapist, and doctoral candidate at Vanderbilt.
The camp's mission is to empower children and teens to become confident communicators. "This is my second year here and I'm still having an absolute blast," said 10-year-old Tucker Tolbert, a Camp T.A.L.K.S. camper.
On the day I stopped by the camp, the kids worked in teams to invent a product to pitch in a "Shark Tank" style game in front of their peers.
The camp consists of many types of programming, some of which are speech-related activities, while others are more traditional camp happenings.
According to camp staff, about one in every hundred people stutters. "It's just rare enough that if you're in school or in a club or church or something like that, you may be the only kid, you may be the only person you know who stutters," said Millager.
"Camp T.A.L.K.S. is a really good way of figuring out that there are more people like you, if you stutter, there are more people who feel the same exact way," said 14-year-old Toha Demian, a Camp T.A.L.K.S. camper.
The annual camp does have a participation fee, but scholarships are available for families who need financial assistance.
Click here for more information about Camp T.A.L.K.S.
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