IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An annual summer camp at the University of Iowa is helping children deal more effectively with stuttering. There isn’t a cure for stuttering, but experts say there are strategies to help people become more fluent in their speech. Stuttering can be devastating if left untreated.

Kristi Cooley, of Clinton, tells the Iowa City Press-Citizen the intensive one-on-one treatment her son Drew is receiving has made a huge difference. The work with therapists at the UI’s Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Clinic has helped his speech skills and confidence. About a dozen children from Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri are taking part in the camp.

Students get five hours of group and individual therapy a day for nine days. That’s far more intensive than what they receive at school.