About the experts (in alphabetic order by last name):

Dr. Joseph G. Agius, M.Sc. (Dublin), Ed.D. (Sheffield), is a European Fluency Specialist and Speech Language Pathologist with special interest in fluency disorders and humour research. He is a lecturer and member on the Steering Committee of the ‘European Clinical Specialization Course in Fluency Disorders’.     Dr. Agius has experience working with diverse populations around Europe helping to develop skills in communication, leadership and public speaking, and conflict management leadership and public speaking, and conflict management. He is Advanced Practitioner at the Speech Language Department, Ministry of Health, Government of Malta. He is author of the award winning iOS application ‘Fluency SIS’ – Smart Intervention Strategy for school age children who stutter.

Barbara J. Amster, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-F, ASHA Fellow, is Professor Emerita at La Salle University, where she was founding Chair and Graduate Director in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. For many years, she taught the graduate course in fluency and stuttering at La Salle. In 2018, she coauthored and edited the text: More Than Fluency, The Social Emotional and Cognitive Dimensions of Stuttering.

Nancy Barcal, M.A., CCC-SLP, is the Founding Director of Granite Bay Speech and has over 32 years experience treating individuals who stutter and clutter. Nancy received her Bachelor’s Degree from Bradley University, (Peoria, Illinois) and her Master’s Degree from Northern Illinois University, (DeKalb, Illinois). The National Stuttering Association (NSA) recognized her as the 2009 Chapter Leader of the Year.  Nancy has been an active member of the NSA since 1983.  She is a member of ASHA’s Fluency Disorders Special Interest Group. Nancy is a frequent guest speaker on the subject of fluency disorders and counseling techniques at Northern California school districts, hospitals, and Sacramento State University (Sacramento, California).  She recently presented, “Providing the Best Care for Your Client Who Stutters” at the National Student Speech and Hearing Association Conference in Sacramento, California. Nancy has developed clinical fluency evaluation and treatment guidelines for the insurance industry. She has worked in home health, schools and hospitals, as well as, private practice.  Nancy works with the Roseville Theatre Group to provide opportunities for people who stutter to volunteer in the theatre for generalization of skills.  She is passionate about increasing awareness of fluency disorders and advocating for better treatment options.

Craig Coleman is the Chairperson of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Edinboro University. He is a Board-Recognized Specialist in Fluency Disorders and past Coordinator of ASHA SIG 4 (Fluency and Fluency Disorders). Craig has given over 200 presentations on stuttering across the United States. He is a Fellow of ASHA and VP-Elect of Planning for ASHA.

Rob Dellinger, M.S., CCC-SLP, is an elementary school speech-language pathologist in the Wake County (N.C.) Public School System. Mr. Dellinger serves as fluency consultant for his district, helping colleagues to navigate through ongoing challenges within the evaluation and treatment process for children who stutter. Mr. Dellinger is active in the local National Stuttering Association chapter and presents workshops on stuttering evaluation and treatment.  Mr. Dellinger, a person who stutters, lives in Raleigh, N.C., with his wife and two daughters.

Tricia Hedinger, MS, CCC-SLP is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She specializes in stuttering disorders for children, adolescents and adults. She is the Regional Chapter Coordinator for the MidAtlantic Region of the National Stuttering Association and Chapter Leader for the support group in East Tennessee.   Ms. Hedinger is an active member of the Special Interest Group for Fluency Disorders. She consults with schools and SLPs throughout the southeast United States on the evaluation and treatment of people who stutter.  Ms. Hedinger also directs the UT Volunteer Your Voice Summer Camp for children ages 8-16 with speech, language and/or hearing impairments.

Farzan Irani, PhD., CCC-SLP is an associate professor is the Department of Communication Disorders at Texas State University where he teaches graduate courses in stuttering, research methods, and motor speech disorders. His research interests are in the psychosocial aspects of stuttering, specifically listener reactions to stuttering, and treatment effectiveness for adolescents and adults who stutter. He currently directs the Comprehensive Stuttering Therapy Program (CSTP) for Adolescents and Adults at Texas State University.

Dr Pallavi Kelkar. Stuttering has intrigued me since the day I first heard about it in my Speech Language Pathology course 16 years back. It continues to intrigue me as I teach undergraduate and postgraduate courses in fluency at the School of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pune, India. I have always been interested in the “person” part of “persons with stuttering”, and this is unwittingly reflected in my classes as well as my assessment and therapy for persons who stutter. My doctoral dissertation explored the impact of stuttering on the lives of those who stutter. Some of my work now involves reducing this impact by busting myths and stereotypes about stuttering through awareness programs at schools, hospitals, and through electronic and social media.

Jaimie (Hannan) Michise. Jaime has been a speech-language pathologist for the past nine years. She began her career at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where she was an active member of the fluency team. Recently, Jaime spent two years living and working in Nagoya, Japan. In addition to working with children and families in the international community, Jaime studied Japanese and was able to experience firsthand the challenges that can accompany communication difficulties. Jaime now lives in Dallas, Texas and has a private practice working with people who stutter. She also teaches adjunctly at the University of North Texas and Bowling Green State University. Additionally, she continues to work with children and families internationally. Jaime has presented at international, national, state, and local conferences and has published on the topic of stuttering and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Jaime has also been involved with Camp Shout Out for Youth who Stutter for the past nine years.

Gunars Neiders, Ph.D. Elec. Eng., Psy. D. is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Washington State, USA. and consulting psychologist American Institute for Stuttering (AIS). He is the founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy of Stuttering (REBTS) and has been practicing it for over 8 years with emphasis on teletherapy (using Skype and Zoom). He authored the book “From Stuttering to Fluency: Manage Your Emotions and Live More Fully” and his dissertation “Theoretical Development of a Proposed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Based Model to Treat Persons with Chronic Perseverative Stuttering Syndrome”. His publications include “Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy of Stuttering via Skype: Case Series Studies” presented at the International Fluency Association 8th World Congress in Lisbon, Portugal, July 6-8, 2015 and “Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy of Stuttering: Theory and Teletherapy Techniques” at International Fluency Association 2018 World Congress: Hiroshima, Japan.

Charlie Osborne is a clinical associate professor at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point.  He teaches the fluency disorders class and mentors graduate students working with people who stutter and their families.  Charlie has worked with people who stutter for over 30 years.  He is a NSA Adult Chapter Leader.

Dr. James Panico received his PhD in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2005 and joined the faculty at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) in 2006. Dr. Panico is a certified speech-language pathologist and researcher in the area of stuttering. He teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in stuttering, clinical methods, counseling, professional issues and also supervises in the SIUE Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic. He has presented at professional meetings at the state, national, and international levels and is also active in professional organizations at the state and national levels.

Jean Sawyer, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is an associate professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Illinois State University.  Dr. Sawyer teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in stuttering and counseling, and has taught graduate courses in stuttering as an adjunct professor at three other Illinois universities. She serves as co-chapter leader of a local group of the National Stuttering Association.  She has published in the area of treatment efficacy for adults and preschool children who stutter.  Her research is in clinical measures of stuttering, the distribution of disfluencies in stuttered speech, and treatment of stuttering in preschool children.

Kathleen Scaler Scott, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at Misericordia University and a Board Certified Specialist in Fluency Disorders. She has been a practicing clinician for 24 years in hospital, school, and private practice settings. Dr. Scaler Scott has authored and co-authored several articles and book chapters on the topic of fluency disorders. She is co-editor of the textbook, Cluttering: A handbook of research, intervention, and education, and of the treatment manual Managing Cluttering: A comprehensive guidebook of activities, both with Dr. David Ward. She is author of the forthcoming book, Fluency Plus: Managing Fluency Disorders in Individual with Multiple Diagnoses. A certified special education and elementary school teacher, Dr. Scaler Scott was the first Coordinator of the International Cluttering Association.

Lynne Shields, Ph.D. CCC-SLP, BCS-F, taught at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Missouri for 37 years. As a professor in the Communication Disorders and Deaf Education department, she.taught courses in fluency disorders and counseling, supervised in the on-campus clinic and served as graduate program director. While recently retired from teaching, she continues to see children and adults who stutter in her private practice.  She is a board-certified specialist in fluency disorders.

Ellen-Marie Silverman, Ph.D. The author of “Mindfulness & Stuttering” and “Relief From Stuttering,” Ellen-Marie Silverman earned the Ph.D. in Speech Pathology from The University of Iowa.  She is a Fellow of The American Speech-Hearing-Language Association and a Full Member of Sigma Xi.  Now retired, she was a member of several university faculties and published more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals primarily on the subjects of children’s disfluency and women’s stuttering problems.  She maintained a private practice.

Greg Snyder, Ph.D. CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at The University of Mississippi. Dr Snyder received a Ph.D. from East Carolina University, where he researched the integration of motor theory with stuttering from a neurological perspective. He has published a variety of articles on stuttering and other fluency disorders in the areas of perceptions of those with fluency disorders, disclosure of fluency disorders, stuttering in non-spoken expressive modalities, prosthetic stuttering management, and other areas within the neuroscience of stuttering. Dr Snyder also remains active integrating the speech sciences with motor approach relative to articulation disorders.

Mary Weidner, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at Edinboro University. Her research focuses on measuring and improving children’s attitudes toward peers with communication disorders. She developed the Attitude Change and Tolerance program (InterACT), an educational program that teaches children about human differences and how to interact with others who are different.

Katarzyna Węsierska is an assistant professor at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland and the founder and a speech-language therapist at the Logopedic Centre in Katowice. In her research and clinical practice, she focuses mainly on fluency disorders. She coordinates a self-help group for people who stutter and/or clutter at the University of Silesia. She is accredited by the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering in London to train Polish SLTs to use the Palin Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Children. She cooperates with international organizations and researchers from different countries to disseminate knowledge and change social attitudes towards fluency disorders. Dr. Węsierska co-organizes the International Conference of Logopedics entitled Fluency Disorders: Theory and Practice at the University of Silesia. At the 11th Oxford Dysfluency Conference (2017, Oxford, UK) she was awarded the David Rowley Award for International Initiatives in Stuttering.

Dale F. Williams, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BRS-FD is Chair and Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Florida Atlantic University. In addition, he is a consultant for Language Learning Intervention and Professional Speech Services.  A board-certified specialist in fluency, Dr. Williams served as Chair of the Specialty Board on Fluency Disorders from 2008 to 2010. He has coordinated the Boca Raton chapter of the National Stuttering Association since 1996. His publications include the books Stuttering Recovery: Personal and Empirical Perspectives (Psychology Press), Communication Sciences and Disorders: An Introduction to the Professions (Psychology Press), and Shining a Light on Stuttering: How One Man Used Comedy to Turn his Impairment into Applause (The Brainary), co-authored with comedian Jaik Campbell. Dr. Williams is currently working with a publisher on a series of stuttering workbooks.