Photo: Jerry and Eli at Jerry's horse farm
Dr. Jerome “Jerry” Halvorson, Speech Language Pathologist and distinguished professor in the Department of Communication Disorders at University of Wisconsin River Falls, passed away on February 24 at the age of 85. He was known in his field of Speech Language Pathology for his commitment to helping people who stutter and mentorship of clinicians he trained. His views on stuttering treatment often went against the mainstream, and his success impacted the field of speech pathology. After retiring to his horse farm in Wisconsin after a 35-year career, he stayed in touch with former students and many of the people who stuttered that he helped throughout the years. He is survived by his former wife, five children and nine grandchildren.
Importance of natural speech and emotional connection
While there have been different methods and approaches in the field for decades, Speech-language pathology has traditionally focused on fluency training. Jerry rejected this approach, especially for children. In fact, as a professor he instructed his students not to say “the F-word,” meaning fluency. He maintained that people who stuttered could be exceptional communicators without striving for fluency. When a child exhibited stuttering, it was important to keep them talking and let them experience the joys of conversation and self-expression, not scrutinize and correct them. He emphasized the importance of natural speech and emotional connection in stuttering treatment, which to some was controversial.
Family dynamics and attitudes
Doreen (Dori) Lenz Holte’s book, Voice Unearthed: Hope, Help, and a Wake-Up Call for the Parents of Children Who Stutter (a must-read for anyone whose life is affected by stuttering), describes her family’s experience with Dr. Halvorson. Her son Eli stuttered from a young age, but after years of mainstream treatment his problems seemed to be getting worse instead of better. She contacted Jerry, knowing he had an unorthodox approach. “We have to get Eli talking again because his previous therapy sucked all the fun right out of it,” he told her. The whole family was invited for a day at his horse farm, because part of his treatment was observing family dynamics and attitudes. As Dori found out, he wasn’t afraid to coach parents to examine their own behaviours and improve listening skills. An amiable, no-nonsense, larger-than-life personality, Jerry had a sharp intuition about people and an ability to make them feel comfortable and open up to him. He soon had Eli happily conversing as he helped with some light chores around the farm. Dori continued Eli’s visits to Jerry’s farm for four years afterwards, and the results were life changing. She says, “I can’t imagine what our world would have been like without him.”
Over the course of his career, Dr. Jerry Halvorson helped people who stutter, his students, and practitioners re-frame how they thought about stuttering. He was a man who did things his own way, and improved lives as a result. He will be missed by many. Rest in peace, Jerry.
Lisa Wilder has been involved with CSA and other stuttering organizations before that for more than 25 years. Originally from Ottawa she has also lived in Vancouver, and currently resides in Toronto where she works in communications.