Brett Kluetz graduated from CU in 1998. Since then, Brett reports that she has engaged in research and has taken doctoral level classes at the University of Pittsburgh. She then decided that she was best suited for a clinical job rather than a research career. Brett recounted some of her graduate experience at CU, “My most passionate interest in graduate school was stuttering. I received a college degree in history and art history, but later did pre-requisites for speech-language pathology. I am a person who stutters and Peter Ramig, PhD was instrumental in encouraging me to become a speech-language pathologist. I learned a great deal from him about stuttering and ultimately did an internship with Patty Walton and Mary Wallace, both CU graduates, who have a private practice in stuttering. I also enjoyed learning about language development and disorders at CU and working in the CLC very much.” Over the years, Brett has worked with many children with dyslexia and language disorders. “I also work with children with high functioning autism. I currently work at a private school that has a preschool and kindergarten based on the Developmental, Individual Relationship based (DIR) model that Stanley Greenspan, MD and Serena Wieder, PhD, developed. I feel that this approach has strengthened my abilities as an SLP. I also currently work with older elementary school children and often co-teach in the classrooms with special education teachers. Therefore, I am currently most excited about helping children improve their receptive, expressive (particularly social language) within functional settings. I also actively work on teams of professionals such as: PTs, OTs social workers and special educators. I very much enjoy this team and "whole child" approach and have learned a great deal from these other professionals.” Brett remembers being part of “a wonderful class of students who were all friendly. I have many good memories of studying and working together as well as socializing. I found that the teachers and administrators at CU were very warm and supportive. I continue to be passionate about working with children and adults who stutter and see private clients when possible. I learned a great deal from Peter Ramig, Patty Walton, Mary Wallace and other professionals who specialize in stuttering such as Scott Yaruss, PhD, and Vivian Sisskin, MS. I am currently most excited about avoidance reduction therapy and other stuttering modification strategies. I also have found that the Lidcombe approach, a behavioral therapy approach for preschoolers who stutter, can be effective with some children.” Brett’s future goals include working at a university as a clinical supervisor and perhaps maintaining a larger private client base of people who stutter. “I have supervised many students over the years and enjoy teaching. However, I thoroughly enjoy working with teams of professionals and am content at my current setting.”

Brett with husband Paul

When asked about hobbies Brett mentioned that she doesn’t have much time for hobbies these days because she works full time and has two young children, adding, “When I do have time for myself, I like to do yoga and read. I miss the beautiful hikes I used to take in Boulder. I have two young sons: Max, 7 and Jake 3.5 years. They are very active and fun. My husband Paul (who many of my classmates knew) is an oncologist at the NIH's clinical center and a regulator of new cancer medications at the FDA. We currently live in the DC area." Brett currently works at Treatment and Learning Centers based in Rockville, MD. TLC is a non-profit organization that includes an outpatient clinic, a private school (preschool-high school) and other services. Brett has kept in touch with a few classmates over the years. She has consulted with some of them regarding clients and approaches and has gained helpful information from their expertise. Brett asked that we “please send my best to the department! That's where it all began! It was a wonderful place to go to graduate school.” Thank you for the update Brett, we wish you continued success in your work!