Virtual Learning by The Stuttering Foundation is an online series of free, interactive workshops with a variety of offerings for speech-language pathologists, parents, and individuals who stutter.

The series includes monthly offerings ranging from clinical training opportunities, to parent education, to a platform for people who stutter of all ages to share their stories. Sessions are moderated by many of the world’s leading clinicians, researchers, and self-help advocates — bringing learning and collaboration to you.

Real World Questions & Real World Solutions: Bridging Research and Clinical Practice for Children Who Stutter—A Case-Based Q&A

Speaker: Mary Tesh, M.A., CCC-SLP, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, North Carolina, USA

Date:  Friday, June 26, 2026

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM ET

Click to Register

Description: This session will explore practical, case-based approaches to supporting children who stutter across a range of characteristics and needs. Through real-world clinical examples, participants will examine how evidence-based components such as Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), interoception, counseling, classroom presentations about stuttering, and individualized treatment planning can be meaningfully integrated into everyday clinical practice. The session will emphasize clinical reasoning, flexibility, and translating evidence into functional, child-centered intervention.

Participants will explore co-occurring factors, assessment considerations, and ways to identify meaningful therapy goals that support communication participation, effectiveness, and confidence across settings. This session will provide clinicians with research-informed concepts and actionable ideas to support children who stutter and their families. Case studies and clinical examples will be shared throughout to highlight the therapeutic process and bridge the gap between research and real-world clinical decision making. This webinar will be grounded in a dynamic Q&A format, so feel free to submit your questions before through registration and/or during the webinar.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this course, participants will be able to: 

  1. Identify key factors that influence clinical decision-making when supporting children who stutter across varying profiles and needs.
  2. Describe practical, evidence-based intervention strategies, that can be integrated into school and clinical settings.
  3. Formulate individualized therapy goals using case-based clinical reasoning.
  4. Explore ways to support communication participation, confidence, and communicative effectiveness in children who stutter.

Details:

  • Target Audience: Speech-Language Pathologists, Graduate Students
  • There is no fee for this event.
    *This course is not eligible for CEUs at this time and there will be no certificate of attendance issued.
    Please register if available for the live event only. A recording may be available at a later date on our streaming site for a small fee.

Bio:  Mary Tesh, M.A., CCC-SLP, is a school-based speech-language pathologist in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in North Carolina. Mary is known for building strong relationships with students, families, and colleagues—and for creating therapy spaces where kids feel safe, celebrated, and empowered to communicate. She is dedicated to lifelong learning and regularly makes space to connect with colleagues, stay current with continuing education, and collaborate with other school-based SLPs to problem-solve shared challenges.

Mary is deeply engaged in the broader stuttering community, where she builds relationships and continues learning from people who stutter—experiences that have also inspired her own personal growth. Over the years, she has obtained numerous grants to bring high-quality materials and training opportunities to her school community. Mary trains and supports SLPs across her district, state, and beyond, helping expand equitable access to meaningful stuttering services for students of all ages.

Disclosures:

Non-financial: none

Financial: receive an honorarium for today’s presentation

Charles Van Riper’s Approach to Stuttering and His Impact on My Life

Speaker: Barry Guitar, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Vermont

Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Time: 12:00-1:30 PM ET

Click to Register

Description: Using information from his pending biography of Van Riper, Barry will discuss how Van Riper transformed himself from a severe stutterer without hope to become a fluent stutterer.  He soon developed a treatment technique that was successful with stutterers throughout the world and treated Barry with his broad approach that changed Barry’s life.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will demonstrate the ability to:

  1. Learn about Van Riper’s inspiring odyssey from near-suicidal helplessness to tough and compelling therapist, teacher, and researcher who changed the nature of stuttering treatment.  
  2. Learn about the key influences on Van Riper’s life.
  3. Learn the critical aspects of Van Riper’s treatment for stuttering and how it affected Barry.

Details:

  • Target Audience: Speech-Language Pathologists, graduate students, individuals who stutter.
  • There is no fee for this event.
    *This course is not eligible for CEUs at this time.
    Please register if available for the live event only. A recording may be available at a later date on our streaming site for a small fee.

Bio: Barry Guitar began life as a severe stutterer and learned to manage it successfully to stutter fluently.  His therapy with Van Riper motivated him to travel the world to test the effectiveness of his treatment and then become a Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Vermont.  He has received funding from National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and other institutions, as well as awards from American Speech Language Hearing Association, University of Vermont, Carnegie Foundation, and Western Michigan University.  He is working on the 7th edition of Stuttering: An Integrated Approach to Its Nature and Treatment as well as a biography of Charles Van Riper.  

Disclosures:

Non-financial: None

Financial: Receiving an honorarium from SF for today’s presentation