Author: hcri

HCRI Has Treated More Than 6,300 Persons Who Stutter

Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI) Founder Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D. talks about what makes HCRI’s approach to stuttering therapy distinct from other stuttering treatment providers.

HCRI is a unique and thoroughly special place that works exclusively on stuttering — a problem that is unique to humans and is one of mankind’s most ancient disorders. At HCRI, we originated the modern, systematic behavioral treatment of stuttering and continue to discover new methods that improve upon quality and reliability in the treatment of stuttering. The key to this progress has been our insistence on dealing with stuttering via objective, physically oriented research and treatment methods.

When we share that HCRI has treated more than 6,300 people who stutter, we are not just reporting an impressive statistic. We are communicating our team’s breadth of experience successfully treating people with an array of stuttering types and severities, as well as a broad range of personalities, attitudes, intellectual capacities, and learning styles.

We have learned how to create well-defined therapy protocols that are effective with very large numbers of persons who stutter. This means that HCRI clinicians have almost certainly successfully treated persons who possessed attributes closely similar to yours.

The number of stutterers we have treated also indicates that HCRI has achieved a depth of knowledge with stuttering that has enabled us to develop new and more powerful treatment methods. Our staff members have worked assiduously on identifying the very small behavior details that actively generate fluent speech in persons who stutter.

We have had the luxury of testing the utility of these behaviors in therapy, refining their form and function, and evaluating the impact that they have in the acquisition and long term retention of fluent speech. As a result, we know what protocols are effective in therapy and what protocols are not effective.

We have also invented new electronics that allow us to evaluate specific properties of speech on a real-time basis, while clients are acquiring fluency skills within our therapy program. Developments in electronic chips have enabled the HCRI team to create new and more useful therapy tools for fluency skills training.

The increases in reliability and objectivity made possible by these advances provide the Institute’s clients with unparalleled precision in the acquisition of fluency skills. This imparts a high level of client confidence in the quality of  new skills and, in turn, makes it easier for people to transfer fluency into new situations and to retain it upon returning home.  

This process of constant observation and constant improvement in the definition of fluency skills has carried HCRI’s stuttering therapy program beyond the levels of precision and utility represented in other forms of stuttering treatment. We have achieved insights into stuttering that we have earned through years of hard work and dedication to the analysis and treatment of this remarkable disorder.

The cumulative results of what we have learned in working with many, many different persons who stutter are incorporated in our new stuttering treatment program, the Hollins Fluency Program: Advanced Speech Reconstruction for Stuttering.

This landmark program provides powerfully effective stuttering therapy protocols that have been validated through the treatment of thousands of persons who stutter. We are able to provide a reliable treatment program in a fixed period of time (12-days), at a fixed cost, and with a known probability of a positive outcome. We have raised the bar when it comes to the treatment of stuttering.

To learn more Roanoke, Viriginia-based HCRI and the nonprofit center’s stuttering treatment program, click here. You may also call HCRI at 540-265-5650 or send an email to admin@stuttering.org for more information.

Why HCRI Stuttering Therapy Produces More Effective Outcomes

Message from HCRI Founder Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D.

One of our fundamental goals at Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI) is to create reliable, effective stuttering therapy. This means that we search for treatment protocols that work well across the spectrum of stuttering types, client personalities and learning styles.

The innovations in stuttering therapy that we create at HCRI — the detailed, systematic definition and use of fluency targets in stuttering treatment, coupled with scientifically based principles of learning, and electronic monitoring of targets — have enabled us to lead the way toward more effective help for persons who stutter.

At every step we have examined, explored and improved the focus and results of our treatment programs. We see our stuttering therapy as a replicable technology that is administered by clinical specialists who have precise knowledge of how fluency targets are acquired, integrated and transferred into everyday life.

In fact, there are two different technologies represented in our new Hollins Fluency Program: Advanced Speech Reconstruction for Stuttering. The electronic technologies are easy to visualize and understand. Here we are talking about the signal processing hardware that we invent, and the use of computers to present information and evaluate client responses during the therapy process. These advances allow us to improve the objectivity and reliability of therapy.

There is another class of technology involved at the heart of our therapy — behavioral technology. We refer here to the range of motor, emotional and cognitive behaviors that must be defined, their organization understood, and how this information can be employed correctly within the therapeutic process to foster the acquisition and retention of fluent speech. There are many different factors that must be taken into account.  For purposes of this article, I shall focus on only one such factor. This example will indicate the level of subtlety that is relevant in the development of our therapy.

At a basic level, we have identified the syllable as the fundamental working unit within therapy. However, within the formation of syllables, there are multiple behavior details that must be established correctly — alone and in combination with other behavior details occurring within the syllable. Our targets operate at this level to give motor integrity to the production of syllables. In addition, recognize that there 40 basic sounds in our language, hundreds of syllables, and tens of thousands of words. Beyond that there are hundreds of thousands of different phrases and sentences that we can produce.

To improve client learning of targets, we have studied the frequency with which syllables and words occur in our language. We have taken advantage of the natural use of syllables and words to structure the learning sequences that occur within our therapy in a manner that uses nature to assist us in reconstructing speech. However, there is more progress to be made. The more closely our training syllables in therapy approximate the syllables used in a person’s active vocabulary, the more nature assists the process.

There is insufficient space here to elaborate the very important role that behavioral analysis plays in advancing fluent speech within our program. It is clear, however, that we are on the right track in identifying details of important human behaviors that enhance the quality of our therapy program.

For more information about Roanoke, Viriginia-based HCRI and the nonprofit center’s stuttering therapy, call 540-265-5650, send an email to admin@stuttering.org  or visit www.stuttering.org .

New, Advanced Therapy Program Helps People Who Stutter Acquire Fluent Speech >>

Hollins Communications Research Institute Forges New Ground in the Treatment of Stuttering

Scientists at Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI), a non-profit research and clinical center (https://www.stuttering.org) specializing in the physically based treatment of stuttering, have developed a new stuttering therapy with advanced behavioral, electronic and computer technologies that significantly improve the ease of learning and retaining fluent speech.

An estimated 66 million people worldwide suffer from the effects of stuttering, with three million living in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health.  Stuttering occurs when speech muscles inappropriately contract and “jump out of control” with too much force and abruptness during attempts to speak. Markers of stuttering include repetitions of sounds, syllables and words; prolongations of first sounds in syllables; and voice blockage when trying to talk.  The condition can impair social growth, hinder education and career aspirations, and produce emotional scars that may last a lifetime.

HCRI’s new stuttering therapy, Hollins Fluency Program: Advanced Speech Reconstruction for StutteringTM  (HFP), helps people who stutter learn how to replace faulty muscle contractions that cause stuttering with new muscle behaviors that generate fluent speech.  By literally “reconstructing” muscle actions that drive movements of the tongue, lips, jaw, vocal folds, and breathing mechanisms, individuals who stutter can acquire and sustain the ability to speak fluently.

Effective across a wide range of stuttering types and severities, HFP represents a meaningful alternative to existing treatments, according to HCRI Founder and President Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D..  “Many stuttering therapies require long-term participation (a year or longer), are presented by clinicians who have little direct experience with stuttering, and typically yield unreliable results,” said Webster.  “In addition, fluency enhancing devices that have garnered media attention, such as the FluencyMaster and SpeechEasy, help with only about 25% of stuttering cases,” he added.

Conversely, Webster reports that 93% of HCRI clients master fluent speech by the end of the 12-day intensive therapy program.  Researchers developed HFP after studying and treating more than 5,500 people who stutter, ranging in age from 10 to 73. This third generation HCRI therapy incorporates new knowledge of muscle movements that actively generate fluent speech for each sound class in language and features additional treatment innovations including:

  • Enhanced computer-based training techniques that make it easier for clients to understand, learn and maintain details of muscle movements that produce fluent speech;
  • An acoustically based biofeedback system that measures speech muscle use in real time and signals clients whether or not they are using their muscles correctly;
  • A virtual transfer module that facilitates the transition from fluency skill use in the clinic to fluency skill use in daily life; and
  • Sophisticated performance tracking tools that determine therapy progression and individualized support needs.

Future Potential for Global Treatment Access

HFP was built on a web-based platform and offers the potential to deliver quality controlled stuttering therapy on a 24/7 basis to anyone in the world with internet access.  During the next two years, HCRI plans to develop remote therapy administration over the web and partner with health systems of countries where quality stuttering treatment is needed.

“The fact that we will be able to present stuttering therapy virtually any where over the internet means that barriers to treatment availability might be reduced or eliminated,” said Webster.  “There are many places in the world where stuttering treatment is non-existent.  Our new program could address this problem and help many who stutter to acquire fluent speech – a gift most people take for granted.”

About HCRI

Hollins Communications Research Institute (https://www.stuttering.org), founded in 1972 by Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D., 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 clients include John Stossel of ABC TV’s 20/20 program; Arthur Blank, cofounder of Home Depot; and Annie Glenn, wife of senator and astronaut John Glenn. HCRI is located at 7851 Enon Drive, Roanoke, Virginia, 24019. Contact HCRI at admin@stuttering.org or 540-265-5650. For video speech samples and more information, visit https://www.stuttering.org .

HCRI: Stuttering Institute Overview

The following information provides an overview of the Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI), a leader in stuttering research and treatment innovation.

About HCRI

HCRI was founded in Roanoke, Virginia in 1972 by Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D. as a non-profit center dedicated to the investigation and treatment of stuttering. HCRI researcher scientists pioneered the development of objectively defined, behavioral stuttering therapy that has earned the Institute national acclaim as a leader in stuttering research and therapy innovation.


HCRI Stuttering Therapy

HCRI has developed a powerful new generation of stuttering therapy:  Hollins Fluency Program, Advanced Speech Reconstruction for Stuttering that incorporates new scientific learning and innovative behavioral, electronic and computer technologies that significantly improve the ease of learning and retaining fluent speech.  HCRI offers 17 therapy programs annually, each of which lasts 12 days, where participants learn how to replace faulty muscle contractions that cause stuttering with new muscle behaviors that generate fluent speech.

Who Attends HCRI Therapy?

More than 5,500 people who stutter, ranging in age from 10 to 73, from across the U.S. and 23 other countries have come to HCRI to benefit from the Institute’s scientifically based treatment methods that have changed the course of their lives.  Before coming to HCRI, many were denied countless educational, career and social opportunities because of their stuttering and most had tried other treatment programs without long-term success.

HCRI Treatment Results

  • 93% of program participants acquire fluency in 12-days.
  • 98% of program participants say they would recommend HCRI to others.

HCRI Staff

The HCRI team consists of expert clinicians, researchers and support personnel who specialize in stuttering. HCRI clinicians hold advanced credentials and treat more people who stutter in one year than most speech therapists treat during a lifetime.


HCRI Recognition

  • The Virginia General Assembly passed a house joint resolution in 2007 commending HCRI for its pioneering research and therapy in the field of stuttering.
  • HCRI’s stuttering therapy was the recipient of the first Award for Scientific Merit by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
  • Media coverage includes: New York Times, Nightline, 20/20, Newsweek, People, Parade, Sports Illustrated, Today, CBS Morning News, and Good Morning America.
  • Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed Medical Hospital have chosen HCRI as their sole provider for stuttering patients.

HCRI is located at 7851 Enon Drive in Roanoke, Virginia.  Contact HCRI by calling 540-265-5650 or sending at email to admin@stuttering.org.

HCRI Provides First-Class Support to Stuttering Therapy Graduates

Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI), a leader in the investigation and treatment of stuttering, offers an extensive package of post-therapy support for program graduates of the center’s nationally acclaimed stuttering treatment program.

HCRI Stuttering Therapy Support:

  • There is a useful set of stuttering therapy manuals, summary materials, practice CDs, and practice guides to take home at the end of HCRI’s 12-day stuttering treatment program.
  • An on-line tracking scale is available to help HCRI stuttering program graduates keep a record of daily speech performance.
  • Clinical staff members are available by phone and e-mail to offer support and guidance to ensure Hollins stuttering program participants maximize success.
  • E-mails are sent to update HCRI clients about new findings in the field of stuttering, practice activities and referesher training schedules.
  • Newsletters are published on a regular basis to keep graduates informed about HCRI news and to provide helpful tips and advice for sustained fluency.
  • HCRI offers short-term referesher training courses on a scheduled basis.
  • Fluency Net, HCRI’s internet-based home practice system, is always available as a means of validating the quality of target use and practicing of targets. This system makes the same type of physical measurements of targets as does the therapy system at HCRI’s clinical facility.
  • An alumni forum on the HCRI website (www.stuttering.org ) provides the opportunity to exchange information, tips and advice with other program graduates.
  • There are a number of HCRI practice groups around the country that meet regularly and welcome participation by new graduates.
  • HCRI holds an Annual Reunion and Fluency Skills Conference during the second weekend of eacghJuly.

For more information about HCRI’s scientifically developed stuttering treatment program, visit www.stuttering.org or call 540-265-5650.

Important Considerations for Stuttering Treatment Selection

The following information is provided by Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI) to help individuals who stutter effectively evaluate the array of stuttering treatments available and determine which program best meets their needs.

Stuttering results from faulty contractions of muscles that drive movements of the tongue, lip, jaw, soft palette, and vocal folds.  Since the disorder has a physical basis, it is possible to successfuly treat stuttering by teaching people how to adapt and control specific muscle behaviors to generate fluent speech.

Successful stuttering therapy outcomes require individuals to set speech goals; select a proven therapy program that matches their specific needs; and dedicate themselves to working hard and using the tools they are given to sustain fluency over time.

PROGRAM EVALUATION

When comparing stuttering treatment providers and approaches, consider the following:

Depth and Breadth of Experience

  • Does the provider exclusively work with issues related to stuttering?
  • How long has the provider been administering stuttering therapy to clients?
  • What are the credentials of the provider?
  • How many stuttering clients have been served?

Treatment Approach

  • Is the stuttering treatment methodology based on the provider’s own analysis of objective methods that produce fluent speech?
  • How much does the lenth and cost of the program?
  • What is the therapy drop out rate?

Stuttering Therapy Success Rate

  • What percentage of clients achieved fluency at the conclusion of the program?
  • What percentage of clients maintained fluency over five years?
  • What percentage of clients would recommend the provider’s treatment program to others?

For more information about successful therapy outcomes and to see before-and-after videos, visit HCRI’s website at www.stuttering.org .  To contact HCRI, send an email to  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.admin@stuttering.org  or call 540-265-5650.

HCRI: Proven Leader in the Research and Treatment of Stuttering

Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI) is a global leader in stuttering research and developing innovative stuttering treatment solutions that have helped thousands acquire fluency skills that have stayed with them for a lifetime.

The sophistication of HCRI’s stuttering therapy — and the individualized approach from which clients benefit — is unmatched by other treatment programs. HCRI’s venerable reputation for outstanding therapy outcomes results from the fact that 95% of clients learn how speak fluently in 12 days and return home with skills that enable them to maintain fluency for the rest of their lives.

HCRI’s stuttering therapy program is based on 35 years of intensive research by in-house scientists who have discovered and indentified specific muscle behaviors that are essential to producing fluent speech. HCRI clinicians are stuttering therapy experts who understand how to scientifically treat the physical and emotional aspects of the disorder, and skillfully teach clients muscle control skills that generate fluency.

As you take the important step of evaluating your stuttering therapy options, we invite you to review the information below to learn what makes HCRI’s stuttering treatment so extraordinary and effective. Then, get ready to enjoy a richness in communication never before possible by calling HCRI at 540-265-5650.

What You Should Know About Stuttering and Treatment

  • There is no cure for stuttering. Yet, you can learning to speak fluently by training the muscles that generate speech.
  • Stuttering is not an emotional problem. It is a physical problem that may cause emotional issues.
  • The outcomes of stuttering therapy programs vary significantly, as do the expertise of providers. Do your homework.

What Makes HCRI Stuttering Therapy Different?

Unlike other stuttering treatment programs, HCRI’s proprietary therapy has been developed by the Institute’s own research scientists who are internationally recognized experts in the field of stuttering. These Ph.D.-credentialed researchers have tested and honed HCRI’s 12-day therapy program with more than 5,000 people of varying age and stuttering severity.

No other therapy approach can replicate the sophistication of HCRI’s treatment delivery and success – or the individualized approach from which clients benefit.

Why HCRI Therapy Succeeds When Others Fail

HCRI’s proprietary therapy is scientifically derived and the most advanced available for helping people learn how to generate robust, fluent speech for a lifetime.

  • Successful outcomes are consistently achieved because clients are taught how to replace distorted muscle activities that cause stuttering with new muscle behaviors that generate fluent speech.
  • HCRI clients receive individualized attention from accomplished, HCRI-trained clinicians who treat more people who stutter in one year than most speech therapists treat in a lifetime.
  • A comprehensive package of post-therapy tools and clinician support services are provided to each client to help ensure long-term fluency results.

Ready to Change Your Life? Contact HCRI Today.  Click here or call 540-265-5650.

How to Help People Who Stutter

There are 66 million people globally who suffer from the debiliating effects of stuttering.  Yet there is help in the form of treatment that can transform their lives. That’s why Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI), a pioneer in stuttering research and treatment innovation, has launched a development initiative designed to extend treatment access and support vital research in the field of stuttering.  The fundraising effort is called the Inventing the Future campaign — and you can help.

Envision what it would be like to live each day having people…

  • Turn away when you try to talk with them;
  • Hang up the telephone when you call them; or
  • Laugh when you are desperately struggling to say something important.

This is what happens to people who stutter.  They have fluent thoughts, fluent writing abilities, and even fluent singing skills. Yet, it all breaks down when they try to talk.  Stuttering (also called stammering) affects three million people living in the United States and 66 million people worldwide.  Those who speak fluently take it for granted.

Sadly, stuttering has been ignored on the national health stage because it is deeply misunderstood by people who do not have it.  Many have the misconception that persons who stutter are less intelligent – or have emotional or mental problems. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

HCRI research scientists have demonstrated that stuttering has a physical basis and is not caused by mental dysfunction or anxiety.  The simple fact is that stutterers are normal people who have difficulty talking; and they deserve help and attention.

The good news is that HCRI, which was founded in 1972, has pioneered the development of scientifically based stuttering treatment methods that have helped thousands who stutter learn to speak fluently.

Researchers at the Institute are on the verge of key discoveries that may isolate the cause of stuttering, which could ultimately lead to a cure. In addition, HCRI is working on ways to use technology to extend treatment access to more people in more places than ever before possible.

The reality of operating a not-for-profit institute is that outside funding is needed to move forward with important work that will benefit society.  That’s what led HCRI to initiate the Inventing the Future campaign.   Interested persons can join the cause to help improve the lives of persons who stutter by making a gift at  www.stuttering.org or calling 540-265-5650.

Achieving Fluency through Persistence

The following is an excerpt of an article by Dorothy Carlson, a graduate of the stuttering therapy program at Hollins Communications Research Institue (HCRI) in Roanoke, Virginia. It is a candid account of her journey to fluency.

The word persistence reminds me of a conversation I had with a children’s author a few years ago. At dinner before speaking at my library, she revealed the key to success for a writer — persistence. Many would-be authors don’t get published, she told me, because they give up too easily. The pink slips discourage them from pursuing their dreams.

I already knew a little about persistence. At the age of 13, while helping in my junior high school library, I had decided to become a children’s librarian. The counselor at Drexel University warned me that I would never be given an opportunity. Why? Because I stuttered. Yet, I persevered and fulfilled my goal of becoming a librarian.

A few years into my position at Radnor Library in Wayne, Pennsylvania, I decided to get help for my stuttering and enrolled in the HCRI stuttering treatment program. I found the first three weeks difficult, yet hopeful. I learned new skills that were very hard, seemingly impossible to maintain with an 84% disfluency rate. Prone to depression, I wondered why I couldn’t speak fluently using the new target behaviors I had been taught.

Yet encouraged by the fluent reunion speeches of many HCRI stuttering program graduates, I kept working at it and even went back to Hollins for innumerable refresher courses. Each time I returned to the Insitute, my fluency improved. I have never regressed back to the initial disfluency rate.

The improvement in my speech has given me the confidence to accept several county children’s division positions, culminating in the chairmanship of the organization. In April 1996, I accepted the first Delaware County Outstanding Library Employee award. My acceptance speech, given before 150 people, was not perfect, but better than I could have ever imagined.

Maintenance of the fluency targets remains illusive. In 1984, I was diagnosed with cervical osteoarthritis and TOS (thoracic outlet syndrome). Both conditions create stiffness and nerve compressions in the vocal chord area. As a result, the ability to feel my speech targets continues to regress with age, making it even more difficult to monitor correct muscle movement patterns.

Though, I continue to work on my fluency targets and attend HCRI refresher courses, which always bring new insights. A few years ago, I learned that target precision resulted in fluency. Within a limited range, without unusually strong vibrations, I could do the required muscle movements that produced fluent speech. What a revelation!

Like so many would-be authors deluged by pink slips, I’ve faced the dilemma of giving up or going on, doing the best I can. My client file grows thicker with each new attempt. But my persistence may give people who stutter hope, whether they have a special medical problem or not. Fluency is worth the effort. It is attainable if you don’t give up trying. I know I never will.

For more information about HCRI and the Institute’s research-based treatment program, click here or call the Institute at 540-265-5650

Stuttering Research Commentary #4 by HCRI

Genetic Studies: Possibilities and Limitations Related to Stuttering

Commentary by Ronald L. Webster, Ph.D., Founder and President of Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI), a nonprofit center dedicated to the investigation and treatment of stuttering.

The issue of genetics in stuttering is important and it deserves to be understood in terms of what genetic analyses can and cannot do in improving our understanding of stuttering. The scientific and popular enthusiasm for modern DNA analyses is generating a possibly problematic situation with the seemingly magical expectation that the human condition can be understood almost solely through genetic analyses.

It is clear, however, that the information resulting from genetic analyses must be integrated with other forms of knowledge about how organisms are organized and how they function.

The coherent formulation of knowledge about fundamental properties of organisms will lead to better understanding of the specific mechanisms that are embodied within them and the activities accomplished by these mechanisms. This will be true for the disorder identified as stuttering.

A few recent studies illustrate the nature of research being conducted on genetics and stuttering.  Following are links to abstracts.

ABSTRACTS

These reports show scattered and inconsistent results when different types of genetic linkage studies are conducted. The main point is that there is still relatively little evidence for specific genetic factors in the broad population of stutterers. Evidence improves slightly when more closely related samples are examined.

There is the long-standing general observation that stuttering tends to run in families. Approximately half of the people who stutter can identify someone in their family background who stuttered. That finding implicates the notion that genetic factors are relevant in some way to the problem of stuttering.

There is preliminary evidence that aspects of stuttering within family members can be accounted for by advanced genetic models. However, when geneticists have conducted genetic linkage studies in which they searched for genetic markers that differentiated family groups with stuttering represented with family groups without stuttering represented, only weak relationships were found.

One of the conclusions that can be drawn about the probable role of genetics in stuttering is that slightly more that 50 percent of the cases will have a genetic component present. That means there will be a considerable proportion of stuttering cases where a genetic component will not be present. There is considerable importance to this interpretation when it comes to searching for the cause or causes of stuttering.

It seems likely that there is a mechanism or mechanisms that can produce stuttering in a individual even when there is no specific genetic element present. If this is indeed the case, then, in those instances of stuttering where a genetic component is identified, it would be expected that the physical manifestations of the genetic material are acting upon components of an existing body system that is primarily responsible for the disfluent speech events.

The implication that I draw from the genetics research is that we should intensify the search for physical mechanisms within the body that govern speech motor output. A good place to begin the search is to examine the broad array of physical variables that enhance fluency in stutterers and degrade fluency in normal speakers. Nature is presenting us with sets of clues that are almost certainly pointing to the arena where the causal factors in stuttering will be found.

For information about HCRI’s 39 years of research and therapy delivery, visit www.stuttering.org.