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Lori Melnitsky

What is the MPI-2 Stuttering Program?

What is the MPI-2 Program?

It stands for Modifying Phonation Intervals.  It is an evidenced researched based stuttering treatment program for adults.  It is a program I have used with other adults ages 17 and older with remarkable results.  It is an intensive ten day program offered over 2 weeks (usually two hours per day) to improve fluency in a naturally sounding way.

What is the research behind it?

I was fortunate to be trained and certified by Dr. Roger Ingham himself who researched many years at the University of Santa Barbara (USB)  to develop this program.  Research has revealed that people who stutter produce short phonation intervals (meaning voicing of sounds is too rapid) and this increases stuttering.  If these short phonation intervals can be reduced by increasing the intervals, stuttering can be gradually reduced.  In short we do this with the use of an app that is customized for you to modify these rapid movements.  A clinician guides you and helps you achieve this.

Click here for before and after videos:

What does the program consist of?

It consists of 3 phases:

ESTABLISHMENT PHASE:

The goal of this phase is for the client to achieve stutter free and natural sounding speech in the clinic setting. This is done with the use of the MPI-2 app on an iPad or iPhone with the clinicians guidance to aid in the reduction of short intervals of phonation.  A headset is used to monitor these intervals. The key is to sound natural to the listener. This phase takes place within my office or over skype and lasts approximately two weeks.  At the end the client learns to talk without stuttering in a conversation for five minutes with less stuttering heard.

TRANSFER PHASE:

The goal of the transfer phase is for the client to transfer this fluent and natural speech outside of the structured setting of a speech clinic.  Realistic conversational tasks are practiced, such as talking on the phone and ordering in a restaurant.  These are recorded and uploaded to the clinician to monitor and evaluate.

MAINTENANCE PHASE:

The goal is to maintain this stutter free speech while gradually reducing the formal speaking tasks.  This can take up to one year and is monitored by the clinician weekly in online sessions.

Click here for before and after videos of graduates of the program:

In summary:

As  you have read this program is for the highly motivated adult who wants to see significant changes in their speech.

As a medical student stated who successfully took the program:

“The more I put int to the program, the more I got back.”

Is their an advantage of taking this program from someone who stutters herself and went through the MPI program?

Most definitely. I get it and can do it with you.

A medical students says it all:

“I’ve stuttered since I was 4 years old.  I went through all the experiences that people who stutter go through and that the rest of the world has no idea about.  Scared to meet new people because I couldn’t say my name.  Scared to order the dish in the restaurant that I wanted and instead ordering the one that was easier to say. Scared to death of oral presentations in school.

Despite my stuttering I got into medical school.  In medical school I would get top scores in all the written tests and get barely passing grades in anything involving oral communication.  At the age of 28 I finally decided I needed speech therapy .  Using the knowledge in neuroscience I had gained in my studies, I researched for weeks on different therapy programs to see which one had the most scientific grounding.  In the end. I decided upon the MPI program.

As a person who overcame stuttering herself, Lori understood everything that I had gone through.  She has been extremely talented at noticing the disfluencies in my speech patterns and giving me real time feedback in how to improve it.  Moreover she also has been flexible and supportive when things didn’t go quite right.  On top of individual speech shaping therapy, Lori also trained me in the therapy and app so that I could continue to practice my speech at home.  The more I put into the program the more I got back.”

(I am glad to say this remarkable med student is graduating this year and got into a top ophthalmology program-Congrats!)

For more information email Lori@alllislandspeech.com or call 516-776-0184.

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