Projects
Our research team utilizes various methods — from qualitative interviews to eye-tracking to meta-analysis — to illuminate the multifaceted nature of stuttering experiences and therapy.
Cognitive, Emotional, Social Factors of Stuttering
General Questions:
What impacts mental health and psychological well-being of people who stutter?
How do people who stutter attend to and interpret social-emotional cues from listeners, and how does that impact their personal and social outcomes?
What cognitive processes underly how people who stutter anticipate and navigate moments of stuttering?
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EEG study of what happens in the brain during stuttering anticipation; specifically, we are trying to identify which cognitive process(es) underlie pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) activity before stuttered speech (in collaboration with Dr. Jan Wessel)
Qualitative study of how people who stutter experience listener reactions commonly known as “the look;” specifically examining what changes they observe in listeners’ faces when listeners hear them stutter, how people who stutter interpret those looks, and how it impacts them in the moment and in the long-term
Developing a repository of photographic facial stimuli of “the look” for open-access use in experimental stuttering research (in collaboration with Dr. Naomi Eichorn)
Social network analysis of youth who stutter to understand the degree to which stuttering-related support within their close relationships impacts their communication well-being (in collaboration with Dr. Ethan Kutlu)
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“Visual Social Attention Among Adolescents Who Stutter” — New Investigator’s Research Grant, American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (2020-2022)
“Cognitive Bias and Social Anxiety Among Adolescents Who Stutter”— Student Interdisciplinary Research Grant, University of Iowa DeLTA Center (2017)
Ableism-Informed Assessment and Intervention for Stuttering
General Questions:
What does “change” look like for people who stutter, and how can we boost their readiness and commitment to the change process?
How can we measure the internal experience of stuttering to guide holistic, person-centered, trauma-informed therapy?
What helps SLPs implement evidence-based practices in addressing the multidimensional nature of stuttering?
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Developing the Values and Outcomes in Communication Experiences for Stutterers (VOICES) Scale — an assessment that measures stutter-affirming behaviors and feelings (in collaboration with Vivian Sisskin)
Developing the Stuttering and Felt Experiences (SAFE) Scale — an assessment that measures stuttering-related trauma symptoms in adults who stutter (in collaboration with Christopher Anderson and Chaya Goldstein-Schuff)
Developing the Concealing Stuttering Questionnaire - Youth (CS-Q-Y) — an assessment that measures concealment behaviors in 10-17 year olds who stutter (in collaboration with Dr. Hope Gerlach-Houck)
National survey of school SLPs to understand contextual barriers and facilitators of implementation of stutter-affirming therapy in school-based speech therapy
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“Promoting Communication Well-Being with Stutter-Affirming Therapy: A Pilot Clinical Trial in the Schools” — K23 Mentored Patient-Centered Career Development Award, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIH/NIDCD) (2025-2030)
“Developing and Validating a Self-Report Assessment to Measure Stutter-Affirming Outcomes” — Researcher-Practitioner Collaboration Grant, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2024-2026)
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“Preparing Students Who Stutter for Life After Graduation:A National Survey of SLP Transition Planning Practices” — Advancement of Clinical Research in Childhood Stuttering Award, National Stuttering Association (2022-2024)
“Project STIRS: SLP Training to Increase Resilience in Students with Communication Disorders” — School Mental Health Research Grant, Scanlan Center for School Mental Health (2022-2024)
Our research is shaped by the voices and experiences of people who stutter. Join us and help build a better understanding of stuttering!