Keywords

desensitization, functional communication assessment, stuttering, treatment, treatment generalization, virtual reality

 

Authors

  1. Brundage, Shelley B. PhD, CCC, BRS-FD

Abstract

Stuttering characteristics, assessment, and treatment principles present challenges to assessment and treatment that can be addressed with virtual reality (VR) technology. This article describes how VR can be used to assist clinicians in meeting some of these challenges with adults who stutter. A review of current VR research at the Stuttering Research Laboratory at George Washington University is presented, including discussion of studies with participants who do and do not stutter. Our research suggests that affective, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of stuttering occur in similar ways in virtual and real environments, making VR a potentially useful tool for systematic and controlled assessment and treatment of stuttering. The final section addresses possible future research endeavors using VR with persons who stutter.