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SPEECHEASY PROVIDER SLP PROFILE: Connie Dugan, CCC-SLP, Chicago, IL
SLP Profile:
Connie Dugan, CCC-SLP
ASHA Board Recognized Fluency Specialist
Location:
4305 North Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60618
Phone: (773) 281-3039
Email: connie@conniedugan.com
Website: www.conniedugan.com
Years in Practice:
30 years as an SLP / 15 devoted mostly to Stuttering
Years as a SpeechEasy SLP:
2 years
Credentials:
Board Recognized Specialist in Stuttering and Fluency, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, One of approximately 300 professionals in the United States who have achieved this recognition.
Certified SpeechEasy Provider.
Charter Member of the International Fluency Association.
Served twelve years as coordinator of CommUniCate (speech-language-communication services) for the Counseling Center of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Affiliate of the Special Interest Division on Stuttering and Fluency Disorders.
Founder and Facilitator of the Chicago Stuttering Society -- a free, community support group for adults who stutter.
Trained in Healing Touch and Theraplay® .
Licensed by the State of Illinois.
Connie Dugan is a great example of someone who loves what she does. Her passion about working as a licensed Speech Language Pathologist for the past 30 years comes through loud and clear when she speaks, even though her voice is soft and sweet.
"I love what I do. It isn't easy, but I am so blessed," says Dugan on the phone from her office in Chicago.
Dugan received her Masters Degree in Speech Language Pathology from Northwestern University. She has worked in health care for almost 30 years, starting off as an SLP in a rehabilitation hospital. Her last job before entering private practice full time was in a university counseling center. "Students were coming in for help within the clinic of the speech and language counseling center, and very few had therapy, or the therapy they had wasn't helpful to them."
Once Dugan started sitting in on stuttering self-help groups, she realized she wanted to start her own group. "I felt that from my training, I could be a resource person to answer questions for people," says Dugan. Fifteen years later, her Founding Co-Facilitator, Melanie Amin, and Dugan still run the same group.
"It's really worthwhile for people, since a lot of times it's the only time someone has talked with someone who has been through the same experience," says Dugan.
After about 15 years at the counseling center, Dugan decided it was time for her own practice. Shortly after making the move, Dugan's mentor, Herb Goldberg, called her up and told her about SpeechEasy. It was his influence that coaxed her into full time private practice.
"We had DAF - it was the size of your fax machine - I didn't use it that much, but that's what we had," says Dugan. "Herb was very excited about SpeechEasy, and said, 'Connie, somebody has to do this in Chicago, it might as well be you.' Dugan laughs at the memory.
Having worked with SpeechEasy now for almost two years, 5% of Dugan's clientele uses the device. She has had cases where someone in an AA group was so touched by another person's disfluency, they purchased a device for them. She also has had cases where someone went from being very, very severe to very, very mild - and everything in between.
"I think a lot of cases are just in the middle where it takes the edge off enough that they can take an approach, instead of being in helpless mode," says Dugan. "Then people are able to do the work that was just too hard - you are changing their attitudes and their feelings and self confidence, so that the device is a way for them to connect with people."
Dugan says sometimes SpeechEasy provides the very important step of just getting people started, and that like rolling a snowball down hill it's a matter of getting started. "It's much easier to deal with your stutter if you can get the first few words out - easier to do traditional speech modification therapy," she says. "Taking the edge off takes away the feeling of helplessness. It becomes easier to manage."
"I would like everyone who has the device to have some therapy to go with it," says Dugan. "I would like more people to have access to it. People come in for the evaluation, it helps them a lot, and then they don't purchase it. Sometimes I think it's financial, sometimes they are not ready for such a big change. It's also the fear that it's going to wear off. That belief holds a lot of people back in traditional therapy as well."
Dugan says SpeechEasy has created a change in the world of stuttering therapy, and that like any catalyst for change, recognition takes time.
"When I started with SpeechEasy, there was a lot of flap from SLPs. But now, it's coming around," says Dugan. "People who are more known in the stuttering therapy community and have earned their respect are becoming more open-minded," she says.
"I hope we are in a new phase - the study being done by Dr. Larry Molt at Auburn is significant. We are on the right track," says Dugan.
For more information about Connie Dugan and her practice in the Chicago area, go to www.conniedugan.com.
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