When Ana Paula Mumy's son began to stutter, she was a seasoned speech-language pathologist with 15 years of experience, yet she was confronted with a stark and humbling realization: she knew nothing about stuttering. Despite her professional background, she felt totally unprepared when faced with her own child's communication challenges. When her son's stuttering journey unexpectedly intersected with a Tourette syndrome diagnosis, it became a transformative experience that reshaped her professional path and understanding of stuttering. Witnessing her sister's struggle to find qualified speech therapists for her own twin boys who stutter further highlighted the urgent need for specialized training. This personal journey revealed the critical gaps in speech-language pathology education about stuttering, ultimately inspiring the Souza sisters to found Spero Stuttering – an organization dedicated to empowering clinicians, supporting individuals who stutter and their families, and creating meaningful change in therapeutic approaches.
To help, empower, and advocate for the stuttering community and their families by equipping those who work with people who stutter.
We provide quality training, resources, guidance, and incentives for speech-language pathologists to prioritize stuttering as a focus area to enhance the quality of services available and advocate for the stuttering community.
At Spero Stuttering, we believe in the transformative power of understanding, connection, and support. Our core values of empowerment, advocacy, continuous learning, community building, innovative thinking, and deep empathy guide every initiative we undertake. We are committed to creating meaningful change by championing the voices of those who stutter, supporting speech-language professionals, and fostering a world where communication differences are celebrated.
