Our Program
The Eastern Virginia Medical School Fluency Program treats stuttering as a behavioral problem. We do not perceive stuttering as the consequence of a complex emotional disorder. We can confidently say that after decades of helping stutterers, the proper approach to treating this perplexing, long-standing affliction is to accurately redevelop the physical properties of speech.
The EVMS Fluency Program employs laboratory derived principles of learning in the development of new speech skills. During the therapy program, physical mechanisms used in the production of speech are precisely and systematically retrained. Participants in the EVMS Fluency Program relearn the proper means of producing the elementary sounds of speech. The stutterers then rebuild their ability to correctly produce syllables, words and, ultimately, complete sentences.
In The News
- Read ANN LANDERS' column, where she says "Program may be answer for those who stutter..."
- Virginia Pilot newspaper - Front page, Sunday, December 26, 2015. The Gift of Speech: Students come from across the globe to tackle stuttering.
- Watch the CBS news story covering Ross Barrett and his successful program graduates.
- WVEC-TV Interview with Ross Barrett
Patient Testimonials
Ross S. Barrett, M.A., CCC/SLP
Instructor of Clinical Otolaryngology
EVMS Fluency Program Director
Board Recognized Fluency Specialist
Learn more about Ross Barrett
Every time I sit down to write this letter, I cry tears of joy. What you have taught Danny, has given him back his confidence and smile. It has been a long time since I have seen Danny speak to me without his hand over his mouth and his eyes looking down at the floor. He stands with his chest out, shoulders back, and belts out every word with confidence. Since being home, he has answered most of the telephone calls (I have to race him to get to the telephone) and he volunteers to go to the store.
That horrible day in March, when one of Danny's classmates called him "stutter boy," is a day that I now call a blessing. That was the day that Danny made the decision to enter the program at EVMS...