Author: hcri

Impact of HCRI Stuttering Therapy Over Time

The following excerpt from a letter sent to the Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI – www.stuttering.org ) illustrates how HCRI’s behavioral stuttering therapy can impact an individual’s life.

Dear Dr. Webster,

…In 1970, our son, Bill, came to your stuttering therapy program. He was just nine years old and you were hesitant to accept him. After a long interview and careful scrutiny, you decided to take a chance with him. We have never been so grateful.

Bill is now 50 years old, a father of five, grandfather of two, and a trial lawyer in Wilmington, Delaware. He graduated form Princeton University and the University of Virginia Law School.

After studying Russian in Russia, he met and married a Finnish girl so he now speaks fluent Finnish, as do their five chidren.

Bill hardly ever stutters. Every once in a while he may trip at the beginning of a word, but no one notices it because we all do that from time to time. His speech is perfectly fluent and we have you and your therapy program to thank for that.

Very sincerely,

Anne Denny

About HCRI

Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D. founded Hollins Communications Research Institute in 1972 to investigate stuttering through scientific discovery and treatment innovation. Under Dr. Webster’s direction, Roanoke, Virginia-based HCRI, a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, has become an international leader in stuttering research and the development of innovative, scientifically based therapy approaches.

The Institute offers 17 stuttering therapy programs annually, each of which lasts 12 days, where participants work with specially trained clinicians and learn how to retrain speech muscles to produce fluent speech for a lifetime.

HCRI clinicians have treated nearly 6,000 people, aged 9 to 73, from across the U.S. and 47 other countries. Clients include broadcaster John Stossel of Fox News; Annie Glenn, wife of Senator and Astronaut John Glenn; as well as athletes, teachers, engineers, students, doctors, military personnel, business professionals, police officers, actors, paramedics, and other individuals from all walks of life.

For more information, contact HCRI at 540-265-5650 or admin@stuttering.org .

Stuttering Therapy: HCRI’s Key Points of Distinction

As you consider your options for stuttering therapy, we hope you will closely examine HCRI’s systematic approach to fluency training and the passion for excellence that infuses our work.  You will find:

  • We believe that the highest purpose in our work with stuttering is to develop and to free human potential.
  • We believe fundamental success in the treatment of stuttering requires a well-grounded emphasis on empiracal analysis of the events that compromise this disorder.
  • We believe that our physically based speech reconstruction program represents the most powerful method for enhancing fuency and for simultaneously reducing the psychological burdens of stuttering.

Following are HCRI’s key points of distinction regarding our work and our stuttering therapy program.

Pioneers in Stuttering Therapy

HCRI was the first to demonstrate that stuttering is physically based and introduced behavioral stuttering treatment more than 35 years ago. Since that time, our researchers have continually tested and refined our therapy to deliver one of the most advanced, results-based stuttering treatment programs in the world.

World-Class Clinical Quality

HCRI’s behavioral stuttering treatment is comprehensive, systematic, and quality-controlled to maximize fluency outcomes. Our expert clinicians administer therapy with precision and care. Moreover, our proprietary treatment tools and technology help make your fluency learning easier and long lasting.

Therapy that Transforms Lives

HCRI’s stuttering treatment program has enhanced the lives of thousands of people who stutter. Research shows 93% of clients acquire fluent speech in 12 days and 70-75% retain fluency for the long term. Now, let us help you open new doors of opportunity that come with fluent speech.

Ongoing Therapy Innovation

HCRI is unique in that work focuses on conducting objective research and developing new treatment methods, as well as administering therapy. Our findings drive continual improvements to the therapy process, increasing the sophistication, practicality, and probability of personal success in treatment.

Exceptionally Skilled Clinicians

HCRI clinicians treat more people who stutter in one year than most speech professionals treat in a lifetime. Extensively trained and compassionate, our therapists are uniquely qualified to guide you on the path to fluency during treatment – and are always available by phone once you return home.

Breadth and Depth of Experience

Nearly 6,000 people from 48 countries have come to HCRI for stuttering therapy. We have served people from 10 to 73 years of age and treated a full range of stuttering types and severities. This means we almost certainly have successfully treated stuttering conditions similar to yours.

Sophisticated Treatment Technology

HCRI is a leader in therapy innovation by continually developing new technologies that make the therapy process more powerful, interesting, and effective. Our proprietary tools make it easier for you to acquire new speech skills and track your fluency progress throughout treatment.

Comprehensive, Ongoing Support

At HCRI, we are your partner in fluency for life. We’re here for you every step of the way during the treatment process, as well as when you return home. Our comprehensive package of post-therapy support tools, resources, and services are designed to help you maintain fluency for a lifetime.

We encourage you to review the information about our treatment program on this website to learn more about our approach to therapy and the results our clients achieve.  We work diligently to make therapy objective, understandable, and focused on specific, learnable skills that generate fluency.

To contact HCRI, call 540-265-5650 or send an email to: admin@stuttering.org .  We welcome the opportunity to talk with you about your fluency goals and answer any questions you have about our approach to fluency training.

HCRI Stuttering Therapy Changes Lives

The researchers and clinicians at Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI – www.stuttering.org) have dedicated their careers to helping people who stutter open doors of opportunity through fluency. “We believe that the highest purpose in our work with stuttering is to develop and to free human potential,” says HCRI President Dr. Ronald Webster.

HCRI has treated nearly 6,000 people from across the U.S. and 47 other countries. People have come from all walks of life to participate in HCRI’s behavioral stuttering therapy, a scientifically based treatment approach that the institute pioneered nearly 40 years ago. Through the years, HCRI has maintained ongoing contact with clients through phone calls, emails, letters and visits. Following is an excerpt/synopsis of a letter Dr. Webster received from a former stuttering therapy participant.

Letter Excerpt/Synopsis:
Written by a former HCRI client living in Croatia

Dear Dr. Webster,

…I want to share with you something that happened with my daughter, Oona. Two weeks before her third birthday, she manifested all the signs of being a stutterer – an extremely severe stutterer just like me. Oona became increasingly angry and frustrated by her inability to get her words out. In a short period of time, her tears and anger escalated into an unrelenting emotional trauma. Compounding the problem, my husband was stationed out of town for eight months. I knew a drastic intervention on my part was necessary to help her.

As you can imagine, my heart was breaking as I was certain I was watching myself 30 years earlier. I pitied my parents for not knowing what to do to help me at that time. Had I not come to HCRI, I would not have been able to help Oona. I imagined all the roads I had taken before HCRI. I also understood the critical development that was going on with my daughter and the potential that her speech patterns could become ingrained to the point of seemingly permanent behavior.

I stayed by Oona’s side day and night. I was determined to help her learn the skills I was taught at HCRI, which enabled me to retrain my speech muscles to speak fluently. I began by explaining to her over and over about how to breathe to help her talk. I taught her about the speech targets that I learned at HCRI. When I spoke, I used the exaggerated speaking manner required to develop and practice fluency skills.

I also showed my five-year-old fluent son how to use targets. He was a great help. No matter what was going one, we would both speak in the exaggerated style to show Oona that she had all the time in the world she needed to get her words out – and to illustrate what she needed to do technically to speak fluently.

Being so young, Oona would meltdown from anger. She cried herself to sleep in frustration for the physical hindrance her stuttering had placed on her. I comforted her as best I could. She was my singular focus. We were inseparable – with each word, each breath, together initiated. I found many ways to illustrate how to exhale and inhale. Impromptu physical theatre was necessary to distract, entertain, and remind her of what she needed to do. Gentle onsets. First sound. You name it. I had a song and dance, a smiling face, for any target.

Oona’s third birthday came and went. She understood the mechanics of what we wanted her to do. Yet, her stuttering got worse, as did her crying and anger. I could feel her vocal folds shut tight. Facial twitching initiated and then she stopped talking altogether out of frustration. It was heartbreaking to see someone so little grappling with such loss of muscle control – and the maddening responses and emotional reactions.

Yet, I kept working with her and working with her. By Oona’s fourth birthday, we had a breakthrough. She started to talk more. I could see her touching her face to make sure things were working when she spoke. I could hear her practicing her breathing on her own. I saw her practice speaking in a near whisper, while alone with her dolls. And there was no more facial twitching. The progress continued. By Oona’s fifth birthday, she was speaking fluently. Gone completely were the out-of-control utterances, blocking in her throat, and phobia to speak.

From the beginning, my pain came from knowing deeply how much a life can be swallowed up and manipulated by a severe stutter. I did not want this impediment to be a factor in Oona’s life. Above all, I did not want to be the one passing this down, with all its roar, into a sweet new and wide-eyed life. Today, speech is not an issue for my daughter.

Dr. Webster, I am writing to share what I felt I was able to accomplish thanks to you and your work. I want to thank you, once again, for all HCRI has given to me. Even more important, I want to thank you for helping me give my daughter the best gift of all – complete fluency.

HCRI Contact Information: Phone: 540-265-5650  Email: admin@stuttering.org  Address: 7851 Enon Drive, Roanoke, VA 24019  Web: www.stuttering.org

The King’s Speech Raises Awareness of Stuttering

The following opinion editorial written by HCRI President Dr. Ronald L. Webster ran in the “Richmond Times Dispatch”  on Saturday, January 29, 2011.

ROANOKE — Stuttering is the invisible problem; however, now and again something happens that brings this unusual disorder to public attention. The release of “The King’s Speech” is heightening awareness of this hampering condition. The movie delivers a powerful storyline about Britain’s King George VI, the man afflicted with stuttering who reluctantly assumed the throne. Colin Firth just won a Golden Globe for best actor for his performance as the monarch. The film garnered a total of seven Golden Globe nominations, has four Screen Actors Guild nominations and leads all Academy Award contenders with 12 Oscar nominations.

The King’s Speech” presents a revealing study of the personal stresses, limitations and daily challenges experienced by a person who stutters. In particular, we see the duke of York struggling to speak in a variety of situations. After failed attempts at treatment, through the guidance of his wife, he seeks help from an unconventional speech elocutionist, Lionel Logue, who undertakes the task of helping him speak more fluently.

While a dramatic, captivating film, “The King’s Speech” creates some misconceptions about stuttering. The story leads people to believe that there is an emotional element that causes the condition. Although the film reveals the duke of York was insecure in his family relationships and fearful of social interactions, these did not cause his stuttering. This portrayal of the stutterer incorrectly emphasizes the role of negative emotions in creating the problem.

We also learn, wrongly, that the therapist says he can “cure” the man of his stuttering. Unfortunately, there is no cure. This message exacerbates misconceptions that still exist and serves as a barrier to treatment and acceptance for those who stutter.

The beneficial aspects of Logue’s treatment dealt with improving speech-related breathing, muscle relaxation, clarity of diction and vocal projection. These address the physical components of the condition — not the emotional. In addition, the task of speech-reading practice with many, many instances of rehearsal facilitated the king’s fluency, as did the presence of the speech teacher. After 11 years of work, Logue’s teachings were manifested in the king’s powerful and fluent radio address to the nation dealing with the coming war in Germany.

The duke of York’s treatment yielded what we now refer to as “fragile fluency” — an unreliable form of fluent speech based on incomplete knowledge of what must be accomplished in order to generate stable, sustainable fluency.

Stuttering therapy has come a long way since Logue’s time. Yet, perceptions of stuttering are not all that different. The public still misunderstands that stutterers are normal people who have involuntary muscle control problems when they attempt to talk. And, many therapies are often still unfocused and produce poor results, leaving people who stutter with greater frustrations. Yet, this doesn’t have to be the case.

Here at Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI), we have researched thousands of stuttering cases and demonstrated that stuttering is a physically derived condition. We pioneered the concept of behavioral stuttering therapy, which helps people replace faulty speech muscle movements of stuttering with those that generate fluent speech. Through this approach, we have treated nearly 6,000 individuals with all levels of stuttering severity. And yes, we have successfully treated royalty.

One of our therapy program graduates, John Stossel, was co-host of ABC’s 20/20 and is now host of his own show on the Fox Business Channel. Stossel went from being a stuttering reporter whose interviews had to be heavily edited to capture only his fluent questions, to a nationally respected journalist with eloquent speaking skills. His fluency represents the result of a modern, objective approach to the treatment of stuttering. Direct focus on retraining speech muscles through a disciplined process makes fluency achievable and sustainable over time.

I share this information to make the point that through public awareness and appropriate, physically based treatment, people who stutter can receive the help they need — and enjoy all the benefits that fluent speakers take for granted every day.

“The King’s Speech” tells a tale of long ago regarding stuttering. It’s a great story — and one worthy of telling. Yet, the greater story is that stuttering is an important problem in its own right and now can be treated efficiently and successfully. This message is important in today’s world. Stuttering is not an invisible problem to the 3 million people in the U.S. and the 65 million worldwide who are afflicted with this unique human disorder.

Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D., is the founder of Hollins Communications Research Institute (www.stuttering.org ) and a professor of psychology (emeritus) at Hollins University. Contact HCRI at (540) 265-5650.

There is Help for Stutterers

[The following opinion editorial about the movie, The King’s Speech, and the HCRI stuttering therapy program appeared in the “Roanoke Times” on Monday, January 24, 2011.]

Written by: 
Gerald McDermott,Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion
Distinguished Senior Fellow, Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion
Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia

Just after my wife and I watched “The King’s Speech” at the Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, a friend asked me if I enjoyed it.

“No, I suffered through it. But it was a great movie.”

I have been a stutterer since the age of 6. Every time King George VI puffed his cheeks helplessly as he tried to get out a word, I felt the frustration and pain.

We stutterers know all too well “Bertie’s” fear of situations that would force us to read a text publicly or speak before a group. Most stutterers fear the telephone because we cannot control the dialogue. We remember painfully the innumerable occasions when we had all the right words in our heads but could not utter them.

We groan as we think of all the well-meaning friends and family who tell us — as they told the British king — to take a breath or just relax. If we could, we would.

Famous stutterers include Moses, Demosthenes, Churchill (whose problem the movie alludes to), Marilyn Monroe, Oral Roberts, Carly Simon, James Earl Jones and John Stossel. Eighty percent of all stutterers are males.

Like most stutterers, my disability started when I was very young. My mother feared I would flunk kindergarten because no one but she could understand me. Somehow I passed. But then in first grade my teacher put me in front of the class to help me enunciate. My panic developed into stuttering, which I would be helpless to manage for the next 32 years.

Stuttering often turned school into a nightmare. Fellow students looked at me quizzically and mockingly. In high school, one considerate lad asked me publicly why I could not talk like everyone else. I was glad to take Latin and Greek, so-called dead languages, because reading them was important — not speaking them.

But I dreaded French class every day, when I would sweat rivers of living water down my sides as the recitation exercise made its way up and down the rows until it came to me. Everyone sighed because they knew I would take so much longer than everyone else, while I tried to force words from my uncooperative mouth.

In college, I had to join in class discussion because the University of Chicago prided itself on small classes with lots of conversation. Sometimes, with the running start seen in “The King’s Speech,” I might be fluent for a few sentences. But invariably I would grind to a halt, utterly tongue-tied before an intractable consonant.

I was humiliated when my grad school adviser recommended speech therapy. How did he know? Strangely, many of us stutterers are in denial. But the speech therapy I received there made no real attempt to cure me, instead trying to help me accept myself. It was a waste of time.

Other speech therapists adopted something like the psychological theory used by the king’s therapist in the movie — thinking the cause of stuttering is childhood trauma. Attempts to help me talk through my supposed traumas did nothing for my speech.

Later in life it dawned on me that many non-stutterers had childhood trauma, and many stutterers did not, or dealt with their traumas in healthy ways.

Real help came only when I discovered as a new assistant professor at Roanoke College that right in my own backyard was a stuttering clinic with reportedly the best fluency rate in the world — 90 percent after five years. My three weeks there were very difficult — 12 hours a day learning how to breathe and feel my throat and vocal cords as I learned to talk all over again. But by the end of the three weeks, I was a new man.

The Hollins Communications Research Institute is based on a neurophysiological approach. Its founder and director, Ronald L. Webster, believes that the source of stuttering is a physical defect in the network between the brain and the organs of speech — something like a learning disability. HCRI’s approach uses behaviorist methods, teaching clients to repeat the same sounds thousands of times until new neural pathways are formed. We gain new neural and muscular memory so that fluent speaking becomes a learned habit.

The telephone no longer scares me. I don’t anymore turn down invitations to give papers at academic conferences because I am afraid. I have spoken frequently on radio, sometimes on TV and lecture around the United States and abroad. I thank God for one of the best-kept secrets of the Roanoke Valley — the Hollins Communications Research Institute .

HCRI Contact Information:  Phone: 540-265-5650  Email: admin@stuttering.org  Address: 7851 Enon Drive, Roanoke, VA 24019  Web: www.stuttering.org

Hollins Fluency Program Delivers Strong Results

Hollins Communications Research Institute’s (HCRI) next-generation stuttering treatment program, Hollins Fluency Program: Advanced Speech Reconstruction for Stuttering™, has produced outstanding fluency outcomes among clients and proven effective across a full range of stuttering types and conditions.

Ninety-three percent of clients acquire fluent speech by the end of treatment and 70 to 75 percent maintain fluency for a lifetime. These numbers are among the highest in the industry for stuttering therapy.

HCRI’s 12-day, intensive stuttering treatment program is administered in groups of ten at a time by specially trained clinicians who are experts in stuttering. Treatment is highly individualized and conducted in Roanoke, Virginia at the Institute’s headquarters.

During  stuttering therapy, clients are taught with precision how to re-train and manage speech muscles that jump out of control with stuttering. As a result, people who stutter achieve new abilities to speak smoothly and spontaneously. Moreover, they are in full control of their speech for the first time in their lives.

The Hollins Fluency Program is a behavioral type of stuttering therapy, designed to address the physical cause of the disorder. HCRI researchers have dispelled common theories that stuttering is caused by emotional or mental issues.  The Institute’s scientific studies have consistently shown that stuttering is a physical condition produced by faulty muscle behaviors.

To address the core of the problem, HCRI pioneered physcally based stuttering therapy in the early 1970s.  Over the years, the Institute’s treatment program has been continually tested and refined, based on research with thousands of people who stutter ranging in age from 10 to 73.

The use of computers and advanced technologies have also been incorporated into the therapy process to make fluency learning easier for clients and help them retain fluent speech for a lifetime. In addition, HCRI utilizes highly sophisticated measurement and performance tracking tools that offer customized treatment and evaluation of each client’s progress in therapy.

For those who need extra assistance post-therapy to retain fluency skills, HCRI offers a comprehensive package of support tools that includes clinician follow-up, a computer-based practice program, refresher training courses, annual client reunions, and coordination of phone and in-person practice groups across the country.

About HCRI

Hollins Communications Research Institute, founded in 1972 by Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D., has grown into a world-leading center for the investigation and treatment of stuttering. The 501 (c) (3) nonprofit institute is unique from other stuttering organizations in that work focuses on developing scientifically based treatment methods, as well as administering stuttering therapy.

HCRI offers 17 stuttering therapy programs annually and has treated 6,000 people from across the U.S. and 23 other countries. Clients include John Stossel of Fox News; Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons; and Annie Glenn, wife of Senator and Astronaut John Glenn.

HCRI is located at 7851 Enon Drive, Roanoke, Virginia, 24019. For more information, visit www.stuttering.org . Contact HCRI at admin@stuttering.org or 540-265-5650.

National Stuttering Awareness Week: May 10-16, 2010

The second week of May each year is designated National Stuttering Awareness Week.  This recognition week first started in 1988 when the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution that was championed in part by Senator John Glenn, husband of Annie Glenn who received successful stuttering treatment at Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI ) in Roanoke, Virginia.

Founded in 1972 by Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D., HCRI has grown into a world-leading center for the investigation and treatment of stuttering. The non-profit Institute is unique from other stuttering organizations in that work focuses on developing scientifically based treatment methods, as well as administering stuttering therapy. HCRI offers 17 stuttering therapy programs annually and has treated more than 5,800 people from across the U.S. and 23 other countries.

There are three million people in the U.S. and 66 million people worldwide who suffer from the debilitating effects of stutteirng.  During National Stuttering Awareness Week, which takes place this year from May 10-16, people who have an understanding of the impact stuttering has on people’s lives are asked to seize the opportunity to:

  • Educate others about the challenges of this unique human disorder;
  • Promote the importance of HCRI research to find the cause of stuttering that could lead to a cure; and
  • Let people know that practical, effective treatment is available from HCRI, which will give them the skills they need to speak fluently for a lifetime.

If you know of anyone who would benefit form HCRI’s scientificaly based therapy, have them visit www.stuttering.org or call 540-265-5650 for more information.  HCRI’s staff will take the time to answer questions and share information about the Institute’s 12-day intensive stuttering therapy program. In addition, some scholarships are now available for program participants.

Stuttering Therapy Enabled Monroe, Ohio Detective to Secure Confessions and Testify in Rape Case

When a middle school resource officer alerted authorities that a 12-year-old said she was repeatedly raped by three adults in her neighborhood, Monroe, Ohio Police Detective Ken Parson used his expert interrogation skills to secure a confession from each suspect. Parson was the only person to testify last week in the Middletown, Ohio sexual abuse case, which has now been bound over to a grand jury.

Testifying in court and interviewing suspects are integral to Parson’s job in law enforcement, which he has had for ten years. Yet, three years ago, a life-long stuttering problem that had minimally interfered with his speaking ability unexpectedly began to worsen.

“My stuttering didn’t affect my performance on the job until one day in 2007 when I went to court to testify. All of a sudden I wasn’t able to talk and couldn’t force a single sound out of my mouth. I couldn’t articulate my case. It was terrible,” Parson said.

Parson is among the three million people in the U.S. and 66 million worldwide who stutter. According to the National Institutes of Health, the condition occurs when speech muscles inappropriately contract and jump out of control during attempts to speak. Stuttering ranges in severity and often serves as a barrier to people reaching their full potential in life.

Though Parson decided from an early age that he wasn’t going to let stuttering stand in the way of what he wanted to do, his experience of not being able to utter a word in court was dramatic and pivotal. He knew he had to address the problem and get serious treatment for his speech condition.

Like many who stutter, Parson tried different types of speech therapy while growing up. None produced lasting results. He began researching different types of therapy and learned about a physically based treatment approach, developed by scientists at Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI – www.stuttering.org ) in Roanoke, Virginia. HCRI’s stuttering treatment focuses on retraining faulty speech muscle movements that cause stuttering to create new muscle activities that produce fluent speech.

“HCRI’s treatment made sense to me because the people there treat stuttering like a medical condition rather than something that’s in your head,” Parson said. “I went through the therapy and it worked. The people at HCRI teach you skills that bring your stuttering under control. And that’s just what I needed.”

HCRI’s program involves 12 days of intensive stuttering treatment where participants work one-on-one with specially trained clinicians to learn new speech motor skills. Through detailed steps, individuals learn how to reconstruct distorted speech muscle behaviors to generate fluent speech. Then once fluency is achieved in the clinic, participants learn how to transfer their new-found speaking abilities into everyday life.

“We have worked with thousands of stuttering cases since HCRI’s doors opened in 1972. Data has consistently shown that stuttering is a physically based condition. It is not caused by emotional or psychological issues,” said HCRI Founder and President Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D.

Webster’s approach is consistent with the findings of a groundbreaking research study published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine that confirmed a genetic link to stuttering and the physical nature of the disorder. HCRI was asked to be a partner in this National Institutes of Health research project and an HCRI staff member was a co-author of the article.

HCRI pioneered the concept of physically based treatment for stuttering more than 30 years ago and has continued to enhance the therapy program over the years. Advanced electronics and computers have been incorporated into the treatment regime to enhance the ease of learning and retaining fluent speech. Ninety-three percent of HCRI clients achieve fluency by the end of treatment. Follow-up studies show 70 to 75% retain fluency for the long term.

According to Webster, “Physically based therapy takes hard work and commitment. Clients leave our center with all the tools they need to control their stuttering and remain fluent for a lifetime. Yet for treatment to work over time, they must continue to practice their new speech skills on a regular basis when they return home.”

To maintain his fluency, Parson participates in weekly speech practice calls with other past HCRI therapy participants. Before going to court to testify, he uses one of HCRI’s post therapy practice tools and listens to an audio track that focuses on practicing specific sound classes to produce fluent sentences.

“I have a lot of people who depend on me and count on my ability to effectively communicate. HCRI stuttering therapy has given me the skills to remain fluent and in control of my speech,” Parson added.

About HCRI

Hollins Communications Research Institute, founded in 1972 by Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D., has grown into a world-leading center for the investigation and treatment of stuttering. The 501 (c) (3) nonprofit institute is unique from other stuttering organizations in that work focuses on developing scientifically based treatment methods, as well as administering stuttering therapy.

HCRI offers 17 stuttering therapy programs annually and has treated more than 5,700 people from across the U.S. and 23 other countries. Clients include John Stossel of Fox News; Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons; and Annie Glenn, wife of Senator and Astronaut John Glenn. HCRI is located at 7851 Enon Drive, Roanoke, Virginia, 24019. For more information, visit www.stuttering.org. Contact HCRI at admin@stuttering.org or 540-265-5650.

Overcoming Stuttering Enabled Alan Tonelson to Advocate on Behalf of U.S. Business and Industry

Appearing on CNBC or Fox News is part of a typical day’s work for Riverdale Park, Maryland resident Alan Tonelson, research fellow for the United States Business and Industry Council.  As one of the country’s leading globalization policy experts, Tonelson is regularly called upon by national media to offer his insights and debate potential policy solutions with other analysts.

His compelling on-air commentary during newscasts and interviews resonates with conviction. He speaks eloquently in front of crowds and exudes confidence as he advocates for policies that strengthen domestic manufacturing to revitalize America’s long-neglected productive industries.

 

No one would know that Tonelson has a stuttering condition that he has lived with since grade school. Like many who stutter, he tried different types of speech therapy while growing up. None resulted in lasting improvements.

“I would have good days and bad days. There was no way to predict what was going to happen with my speech,” Tonelson explained. “By the time I was in high school, I had accepted the fact that this is my lot in life and I would just have to deal with my stuttering.”

Stuttering afflicts three million people in the U.S. and 66 million worldwide, according to the National Institutes of Health. The condition occurs when speech muscles inappropriately contract and jump out of control during attempts to speak. Stuttering ranges in severity and often hampers educational and career aspirations, inhibits social growth, and serves as a barrier to people reaching their full potential in life.

Although a determined Tonelson decided he wasn’t going to let his stuttering stand in the way, he readily admits that his speech condition guided some significant life choices. As a student at Princeton University, he joined the college newspaper in hopes of a print journalism career because “I mistakenly thought it would enable me to write for living and wouldn’t put a premium on using speech.”  Tonelson quickly learned that reporting requires constant telephone and in-person interviewing.  Although he performed well enough in college journalism and his first reporting job after graduation, he became increasingly concerned that his speech might limit his career possibilities.

Then he heard about a physically based stuttering treatment program, developed by scientists at Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI – www.stuttering.org ) in Roanoke, Virginia. HCRI offered a unique therapy approach that focused on retraining faulty speech muscle movements that cause stuttering to create new muscle activities that enable fluent speech.

“HCRI’s treatment was different than anything else I had tried. It made sense to me because it was based on physiology and not psychology,” Tonelson explained. “I attended the treatment program and saw a dramatic increase in my fluency. The therapy did its job.”

HCRI’s program involves 12 days of intensive stuttering treatment where participants work one-on-one with specially trained clinicians to learn new speech motor skills. Through detailed steps, individuals learn how to reconstruct distorted speech muscle behaviors to generate fluent speech. Then once fluency is achieved in the clinic, participants learn how to transfer their new-found speaking abilities into everyday life.

“We have researched thousands of stuttering cases since HCRI’s doors opened in 1972. Data has consistently shown that stuttering is a physically based disorder and needs to be treated as such,” said HCRI Founder and President Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D.

HCRI pioneered the concept of physically based treatment for stuttering more than 30 years ago and has continued to enhance the therapy program over the years. Advanced electronics and computers have been incorporated into the treatment regime to enhance the ease of learning and retaining fluent speech. Ninety-three percent of HCRI clients achieve fluency by the end of treatment. Follow-up studies show 70 to 75% retain fluency for the long term.

Underscoring the importance of physically based treatment for stuttering, last month the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a groundbreaking study by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders that confirmed a genetic link to stuttering. HCRI was a participant in this key research initiative, which dispelled long-standing assumptions that stuttering is caused by stress or psychological issues.

According to Webster, “Physically based therapy takes hard work and commitment. Clients leave our center with all the tools they need to control their stuttering and remain fluent for a lifetime. Yet for treatment to work over time, they must continue to practice their new speech skills on a regular basis when they return home.”

To maintain his fluency, Tonelson joined a speech practice group in Washington D.C., comprised of HCRI stuttering therapy clients, and participated actively for nearly 20 years. The group meets weekly to practice specific speech skills learned in therapy and help one another maintain fluency. In addition to organized practice groups, HCRI offers extensive post-therapy support services to all program participants.

“HCRI’s physically based treatment has been a life-changer for me,” Tonelson said. “I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing now without it.”

In addition to his regular television appearances, Tonelson uses his fluid, persuasive communication skills on national radio programs to offer perspectives on economic and foreign policy issues. He has given presentations for universities, government agencies and business organizations around the globe. His articles and commentary have appeared in leading publications including Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, The Washington Post, and others. Tonelson is a columnist for The Washington Times and IndustryToday.com, and author of a book on globalization called “The Race to the Bottom.”

About HCRI

Hollins Communications Research Institute, founded in 1972 by Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D., has grown into a world-leading center for the investigation and treatment of stuttering. The 501 (c) (3) nonprofit institute is unique from other stuttering organizations in that work focuses on developing scientifically based treatment methods, as well as administering stuttering therapy.

HCRI offers 17 stuttering therapy programs annually and has treated more than 5,700 people from across the U.S. and 23 other countries. Clients include John Stossel of Fox News; Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons; and Annie Glenn, wife of Senator and Astronaut John Glenn. HCRI is located at 7851 Enon Drive, Roanoke, Virginia, 24019. For more information, visit www.stuttering.org. Contact HCRI at admin@stuttering.org or 540-265-5650.

HCRI Offers Hope to People Who Stutter

The following front page story about Hollins Communications Research Institute ran in The Roanoke Times on February 23, 2010:

Not many people know about the little lab in Roanoke County (Virginia), but for stutterers from around the globe, it’s a center of hope for a new life. When news spread earlier this month that scientists had discovered mutations in three genes that appear to cause stuttering, the phones began ringing at Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI).

“They call on a regular basis,” said Candy Smith. “But people wanted to make sure we’d heard.”

Smith, a nurse, is one of two clinicians at Hollins Communications Research Institute, an internationally recognized leader in stuttering research and therapy located across from Walrond Park in Roanoke County.

The institute, which is most commonly called HCRI, was founded in 1972 by Ronald Webster, who at the time was a psychology professor at Hollins University. He remains a professor emeritus with the university, but devotes his time as president of HCRI.

“This is the first time a genetic linkage has been found,” he said about the research, which was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine on Feb. 10. “For years we’ve known it tends to run in families. A little more than half [of people who stutter] can point to someone in their family background. … Really this research is pretty much a breakthrough.”

So, yes, the workers at HCRI had heard about the latest findings, and were celebrating.

“The more times that people can understand that science is really important in treating people who stutter, the better,” said LuAnn Yates, a speech pathologist and the other HCRI clinician.

For Shannon Taylor of McKenny, who attended HCRI in 2003 and again in 2009, the research findings offered hope.

“There is an incorrect status or impression people have that folks who stutter are dumb, just that they cannot hold down a good job, and that is so far from the truth,” said Taylor, 33. “To see that there is an actual connection there, just that you are not dumb, that there is a root cause that can be addressed at some point … I guess that brings excitement, because once you have a cause then you have something to work toward for a cure.”

Currently there isn’t a cure for stuttering, which affects about 1 percent of the population. The research did point to a possible enzyme treatment for stuttering someday.

“While this study is the first to identify specific genes associated with stuttering, the findings apply to about 5 percent of the total cases studied,” Dr. Jody Hershey, a member of the HCRI board of directors, said in an e-mail. “There is much more to be learned here; however, the door to further discoveries has been opened.”

But for now, the focus at HCRI is on teaching skills and techniques to improve speech.

HCRI has developed an intense 12-day therapy course to teach people how to control their voice, respiration and facial muscles so they can speak without stuttering. It’s not the only treatment available, but it is one that is widely known among people who stutter.

Nearly 5,800 people have gone through the HCRI treatment, traveling from 23 countries and all 50 states. HCRI has helped famous people such as TV journalist John Stossel and Annie Glenn, wife of astronaut and former U.S. Sen. John Glenn.

“People from all walks of life in all 50 states know exactly where Roanoke, Virginia, is because of what we do,” Yates said. “And yet there are people down Plantation Road who don’t know we are here.”

Hershey, who is the health director of the New River Health District and a graduate of the HCRI therapy course, said the institute has had a major influence on stuttering research.

“I’m not sure that many people in the Roanoke Valley are aware of HCRI’s national and international accomplishments and successes,” he said.