Research

I am a Professor in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University, where I conduct research on the experience of stuttering. My work on the variability of stuttering is funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIH/NIDCD). My work on improving automatic speech recognition systems for stuttering is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). You can find more information about my research at the MSU Spartan Stuttering Lab here: https://StutteringLab.MSU.edu.

Background

I received my MS and PhD degrees in Speech-Language Pathology at Syracuse University, where I focused on the evaluation and treatment of stuttering in children and adults. I was an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University for four years, then I spent 19 years at the University of Pittsburgh, where I moved from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor with Tenure. I also served as the Associate Director of the Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology for Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

In 2012, I co-founded Stuttering Therapy Resources, Inc. with Nina Reeves and SLP-Seminars, LLC with Dr. Glen Tellis. I joined the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University as a Professor and director of the PhD program in 2017.

I received my Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP) in 1992, and I have maintained a private practice working exclusively with people who stutter for more than 30 years.

I have served on the board of directors for the National Stuttering Association (NSA) and on the Steering Committee of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Special Interest Group for Fluency Disorders (ASHA SIG4).

I have been named a Fellow of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) and received both the Speech-Language Pathologist of the Year and Hall of Fame Awards from the National Stuttering Association (NSA). In 2021, Dr. Robert Quesal and I jointly received the Award for Improving the Lives of People Who Stutter from the International Fluency Association (IFA).

My current research focuses on factors that contribute to variability in the production of speech disfluencies, the development of stuttering, and the evaluation of treatment efficacy for those who stutter. I also study ways of improving the ability of automatic speech recognition system to understand stuttered speech.

I have published more than 120 peer-reviewed research papers, as well as more than 300 other chapters, books, and articles, in both print and online venues, all focused on the nature, evaluation, and treatment of stuttering. I have also given more than 750 continuing education workshops for speech-language pathologists, as well as more than 225 other conference presentations.