Summer Camp to Reduce Speech Anxiety

The foundation of the "Camp dream. Speak. Live" programme is the internationally recognised approach developed and disseminated by the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Research and Education at the University of Texas at Austin.

The camp is organised jointly by the Faculty of Humanities and the Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), in collaboration with the BeszÉLJ Association. Twenty children and young people will participate in the camp. In addition to speech therapy sessions, the programme will be enriched with a variety of art therapy activities, including dance lessons, music-making and arts and crafts sessions. Among the invited guests will be successful adults who stutter, in both their professional and personal lives, who will support the development of the participants’ positive self-image and social skills by sharing their personal experiences.

The camp is led by university lecturer Sarolta Murányi and Professor Judit Bóna from the Department of Applied Linguistics and Phonetics at ELTE, with speech and language therapist Dr Antal Mór Szűcs, associate professor at the Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education. Students of speech and language therapy at Bárczi will also be actively involved in the implementation of the camp as volunteers.

Art therapy is an integral part of the programme, offering participants the chance to explore the rudiments of movement arts and breakdancing, as well as enjoying unique musical experiences. The schedule includes an introduction to musical instruments, a relaxing handpan concert and opportunities to experiment with electronic music.

The innovative nature of the camp lies in its combination of speech therapy with complex, experience-based and community-building activities, thereby supporting the participants’ development in linguistic and communicative competence as well as emotional and social skills.