American Institute for Stuttering

American Institute for Stuttering A non-profit org providing universally affordable, specialized speech therapy to people who stutter.

09/22/2025

"A lot of the time, the biggest hold up, the biggest hold back for stutterers is that not only their own embarrassment, but the fear of embarrassing others who they're talking to. I cannot emphasize this enough: that if everyone out there could learn enough about it, compose themselves, listen, slow down, you will take away the shame, you will take away the embarrassment, you will normalize the environment, you will slow down the environment. And you'll help that factor. That is one of the biggest things. And that's what we're trying to kind of create is just to take the stigma out of it." - Emily Blunt during her AIS Gala 2025 closing speech. ✨

▶️ Checkout more videos on our YouTube channel and don't forget to subscribe and share this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKXUX02eAHU

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Michael Taub is a past client of the American Institute for Stuttering. 🌟 He shared his story with us about his experien...
09/19/2025

Michael Taub is a past client of the American Institute for Stuttering. 🌟 He shared his story with us about his experiences as a student teacher in a middle school classroom. 📚 He was kind enough to share it with our blog. ✏️ His motivation to become an excellent teacher is inspiring, and we thank him for sharing his story with us. 👏🏼🍎💡

Swipe 👉 or visit our blog to read the full story: www.stutteringtreatment.org/blog/being-a-teacher-who-stutters

09/18/2025

Shawn Fagan, the Chief Legal Officer of Citadel, received the Catherine Montgomery Award for his and Citadel’s philanthropic impact on AIS. Through the support of Ken Griffin, Citadel, and Shawn over the last 15 years, AIS has been able to provide therapy to hundreds of children and adults who could not otherwise afford it. 👏

Shawn discussed that the impactful and life-transforming work that AIS does is directly aligned with the giving philosophy of Ken Griffin – that access to education and opportunity can make all the difference in someone’s life. Shawn saluted Eric Dinallo and Dr. Heather Grossman, and all of the talented speakers and therapists involved with AIS, and acknowledged the tremendous impact that AIS has had on the stuttering community and beyond, with its mission of broad education so beautifully encapsulated by its public service announcement. 🎯

He concluded by saying that the evening had shown us the “power of patience, the importance of listening, and the courage it takes to speak in a world that doesn’t always wait.” 💡

▶️📺 Like, share, and subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnsMsNBLATo

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Back-to-school Resources for Children Who Stutter and Their Parents 📖🎒✎It's that time of year again! We know the beginni...
09/12/2025

Back-to-school Resources for Children Who Stutter and Their Parents 📖🎒✎

It's that time of year again! We know the beginning of the school year presents unique challenges for children who stutter as well as their parents. Here are several resources to help you with the transition back to school. 🚀

🍎 The Stuttering Foundation () offers a variety of back-to-school resources on its website. We specifically like the 8 Tips for Teachers flyer and the Notes to the Teacher brochure, but all of their resources are fantastic. 🌐 www.stutteringhelp.org

📰 The National Stuttering Association () sent out a back-to-school email newsletter that we found very helpful, and they have a section for educators on their website. We specifically like the classroom suggestions for teachers and the information on minimizing bullying. 🌐 www.westutter.org

📜 Nina Reeves and Scott Yaruss have teamed up and created Stuttering Therapy Resources (). On their website, in addition to their booklets and texts, they offer several helpful PDF resources. including a back-to-school survival guide. 🌐 stutteringtherapyresources.com

🤝 FRIENDS: The National Association of Young People who Stutter () has several helpful resources for kids, parents, teachers, and SLPs on their website. We think you'll like the Dear Teacher sample letter that a child can give to his/her teacher to talk about stuttering. There are a lot of good resources on this site. Take some time and look around! 🌐 friendswhostutter.org

09/10/2025

Eric Dinallo, Board Chair of AIS, thanked the staff and board of AIS for their tremendous contributions to the stuttering community. 🩵 He explained that the widespread dissemination of the PSA has led to people all over the world calling him and AIS to talk about stuttering, and he hears from many young professionals and college students. ✨

One student that Eric and Executive Director Heather Grossman spoke to about stuttering was so profoundly affected by their conversations that he wrote to Eric after delivering a well-received thesis presentation that “I gave my graduate presentation today… I have been reflecting a lot on the things you said, and it’s given me a sense that there are no limits, something that people who stutter can and should convince themselves of.” 🌟

🎥 Like and share this video! 📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxSJqp-fLCQ
▶️ Checkout our YouTube channel for more videos!

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Join us on September 17th for Back to School Support for Parents of Kids Who Stutter 🏫📚Wednesday 🕖 7:00 - 8:30 pm EST (O...
09/08/2025

Join us on September 17th for Back to School Support for Parents of Kids Who Stutter 🏫📚
Wednesday 🕖 7:00 - 8:30 pm EST (Online) Free to AIS Clients

As a parent of a child who stutters, you may at times feel like you are traveling a lonely road with little or no direction. You want to show up for your child - and at the same time, you barely have the space to show up for yourself. That's why we created this space for you!

Join us for a support group to share your experiences as a parent of a child who stutters, and the excitement and worries around a new school year. This group is open to all parents of current and past AIS clients.

For more information, please reach out to admin@stutteringtreatment.org or visit 🌐 www.stutteringtreatment.org/events/back-to-school-support-for-parents-of-kids-who-stutter-2025

Career Spotlight: Stuttering and the world of Sales 💼👔🤝We often get questions from clients about what careers are “best ...
09/05/2025

Career Spotlight: Stuttering and the world of Sales 💼👔🤝

We often get questions from clients about what careers are “best suited” for someone who stutters. Our answer is always the same: Any career you want! 🌟 In fact, name any profession, and we can probably find someone who stutters working in that field. Oftentimes, they’re right here in our AIS family, as either current clients or alumni of our programs. ✨

Today, we’ll take a look at Sales. From cold calls and business lunches to presentations and pitches, a career in sales requires a TON of effective, persuasive communication. 📞📩

Tim M. is an Account Executive for Dell Financial Services, a subsidiary of Dell Technologies. He recently sat down in our office in Minneapolis, MN, to talk about how his speech has impacted his experience on the job. 🏅

Swipe 👉 or visit www.stutteringtreatment.org/blog/stuttering-and-a-career-in-sales to read the full blog.

09/03/2025

Emily Blunt, an AIS board member as well as an award-winning actor and producer, hosted the evening’s program. 🎬 She welcomed guests and introduced the theme for the evening: “Just Listen.” She explained that for people who stutter, these words take on a most poignant meaning. 🩵

“When you are struggling to say your name, or order a coffee, or just participate in a conversation, and you are stuck in a stuttering cycle, ‘Just Listen’ becomes a key message. 💬 Rather than have listeners say “Just breathe” or “Relax” or even “Spit it out,” the world would be a far better place for stutterers if their friends and families and colleagues could just stop and wait and listen. What we have to say is important, but it may just take us a little time to get it out.” 💡

🎥 Like and share this video! - www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_uSHeSt2QE
▶️ Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos!

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📅 AIS SEPTEMBER 2025 EVENTS 📅Register through ➡️ www.stutteringtreatment.org/eventsAdult Tuesday Night Group 🌃Tuesday | ...
09/01/2025

📅 AIS SEPTEMBER 2025 EVENTS 📅
Register through ➡️ www.stutteringtreatment.org/events

Adult Tuesday Night Group 🌃
Tuesday | September 9, 2025
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm EST
Held on the second Tuesday of every month, this free therapy offering is open to all past and present AIS clients who wish to reinforce the principles and strategies for communicating freely, stuttering confidently, and reducing avoidance.

The What, How, and Why of Anticipation Research 🩺
Wednesday | September 10, 2025
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm EST
Please join us for this special Speaker Series featuring Dr. Eric Jackson, PhD, CCC-SLP, a leading expert on the phenomenon of anticipation in the stuttering experience. Participants can expect a comprehensive overview of the current research literature as it relates to stuttering and the experience of anticipation, with plenty of time to discuss ways to deal with anticipation more productively.

NYC In-Person Activity Group 🌟
Thursday | September 11, 2025
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm EST
Current and past AIS clients in the New York City area are invited to this new monthly in-person free event, hosted by AIS's leader, Dr. Heather Grossman. We will meet to chat, play games, try new things, and enjoy each other's company. Contact Dr. Grossman or your AIS clinician to sign up.

Back to School Support for Parents of Kids Who Stutter 🎒
Wednesday | September 17, 2025
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm EST
Join us for a support group to share your experiences as a parent of a child who stutters, and the excitement and worries around a new school year. This group is open to all parents of current and past AIS clients. For more information, please reach out to admin@stutteringtreatment.org.

Not every kid who stutters is a timid kid who’s getting bulldozed by a too-hectic speech environment! Sometimes it's the...
08/29/2025

Not every kid who stutters is a timid kid who’s getting bulldozed by a too-hectic speech environment! Sometimes it's the kid who is doing the bulldozing. How can we teach good turn-taking skills without dampening the child’s enthusiasm for speaking and expressing?

Here’s what we do:

‍Play Zingo! 🎱
It's Bingo with a Zing! But it's also a game that has polite, patient conversational etiquette baked right into the play. The child gets to be the caller. Parents and siblings take Zingo cards but make a BIG DEAL out of the fact that they are going to remain quiet and really listen to the Zingo caller, so as to be sure they don't miss out on collecting a token. The child retains center-of-attention status while being required, by the game, to practice pausing—it takes about two seconds to click the Zingo machine—and explicit turn-taking.

Use a barrier activity to draw robots ‍(Perfect for Zoom) 🤖
SLP and the child both set out to draw the same robot on a pad of paper. But it's the child who gets to decide what it looks like. The SLP makes a BIG DEAL out of the fact that he is going to listen carefully to the instructions, so he can get the drawing just right. The child gives simple, one-step directions for the design: “Make a big square for the body,” “The head is an upside-down triangle.” The SLP might coach the child to "wait until we both look up from our paper" before giving the following instruction. Both the SLP and the child create a robot. After the drawings are complete, the SLP and the child hold up their drawings, amazed at how different they are.

Play Guess Who? 🤔❓
The SLP and child play Guess Who?, but with one important modification: Instead of burdening the child with the job of coming up with strategic questions—which may be linguistically too taxing—the SLP introduces cards that each list one attribute of a Guess Who face (hat, facial hair, hair color, glasses, etc.) On each turn, the player draws a card and uses that as the basis for his question.

By injecting just a little bit of direct, social communication-coaching into our stuttering intervention, we can give kids something proactive that they can do to make talking a little bit easier.

www.stutteringtreatment.org/blog/social-communication-impact-on-preschool-stuttering

If you are a person who stutters, or a parent of a child who stutters, what has your experience with stuttering therapy ...
08/27/2025

If you are a person who stutters, or a parent of a child who stutters, what has your experience with stuttering therapy been like? What stood out to you about that therapy process? Did you feel seen, heard, understood?

At the American Institute for Stuttering (AIS), we are always searching for the latest research to support our treatment approaches. For stuttering specifically, this has involved an important shift away from fluency-shaping approaches. This shift started when people who stutter opened up about their own experiences with these approaches to stuttering therapy, sharing that they found the process uncomfortable and inauthentic.

Who was the therapy aimed at benefiting? Was it the person who stutters, or was it instead focused on “improving” the listener’s experience at the expense of the individual’s comfort, identity, and psychological well-being? These questions drove me to investigate the different approaches for stuttering therapy and the way that “success” was defined and evaluated.

This inspired the research question for Alex Benevento's systematic review project in graduate school: What are the effects of cognitive-based approaches on adults who stutter? This blog post will outline what he found, and what that means for people who stutter: www.stutteringtreatment.org/blog/beyond-the-physical-why-we-include-cognitive-and-emotional-treatment-in-therapy

08/27/2025

Dr. Heather Grossman, AIS’s Executive Director, presented a look at the “stuttering iceberg.” She explained that the behaviors that you see and hear when people stutter, such as repetitions of sounds or blocks or pauses or physical movements, are just the tip of the iceberg. 🧊🗻

For people who stutter, “beneath the surface lies the much bigger, hidden part of the experience, including the fear of speaking or being judged; shame or embarrassment; anxiety in everyday situations like ordering food or answering the phone; and frustration from being misunderstood or interrupted.” She encouraged attendees to “warm up the water” around the iceberg for those who stutter by creating allies, educating others, fostering a safe and inclusive environment, and spreading understanding about stuttering in our communities. 🌟

She concluded with, “I encourage all of us - whether we stutter or not- to help build a world where empathy and awareness melt the weight of what people who stutter carry beneath the surface. It starts with the suggestion, ‘Just listen.’” 👂🏼🧏🏻‍♀️

▶️📺 Like, share, and subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSrdDU5POdg

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Our Story

AIS was founded in 1998 by Catherine Otto Montgomery, a talented and much-loved speech-language-pathologist who worked with people who stutter for over 30 years. Aware of the great need for universally affordable treatment options, specialized professional training, and increased public education about stuttering, Catherine transformed her private practice into a non-profit center dedicated to meeting these needs.

As a therapist, Catherine promoted the use of integrated treatment protocols that address both the overt symptoms of stuttering as well as the underlying emotional and cognitive components. She developed an intensive therapy program that addressed stuttering holistically, recognizing the complex nature of the disorder.

Early on, AIS became a powerful voice in Washington, calling for an increase in government support for stuttering research. AIS was instrumental in successfully persuading Congress to introduce groundbreaking legislation, and a State of the Science Conference on Stuttering followed. As a result, the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders launched targeted research initiative on stuttering.

AIS remains dedicated to carrying on the legacy of its founder, striving everyday to help people who stutter to “Speak Freely, and Live Fearlessly.”