School-based stuttering services are often limited—not by student need, but by individual and systemic barriers within educational settings. This course examines the most common obstacles to effective stuttering assessment and intervention in schools, including gaps in clinician training, restrictive service delivery models, and misalignment between clinical best practices and educational systems.
 
Participants will explore a content–process–integration framework to understand why stuttering services are frequently under-identified, under-served, or narrowly defined. Emphasis is placed on conducting comprehensive, multidimensional, differential evaluations, documenting adverse educational impact beyond academic performance, and designing individualized, functional, participation-based goals that align with IDEA requirements.
 
Through case examples and practical tools, this course provides a blueprint for systemic change, empowering school-based SLPs to move beyond “what we’ve always done” and toward student-centered stuttering services that support communication, confidence, and access across the school day.
 
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
1 Differentiate among content, process, and integration challenges that impact the evaluation and treatment of school-age children who stutter in school settings.
2 Apply IDEA regulations to stuttering cases, including determining adverse educational impact beyond grades and documenting broad-based, measurable IEP goals.
3 Design multidimensional stuttering evaluations that assess motor behaviors, language factors, emotion/attitudes, participation, and quality of life.
4 Advocate for a district-level action plan (“blueprint for positive change”) that includes consultation, collaboration, professional development, and systems-based solutions to improve stuttering services.
 
Target Audience: Speech-Language Pathologists, Graduate Students
 
Bio: Robert L. Dellinger, M.S., CCC-SLP, has worked as a speech-language pathologist with the Wake County Public School System since 1998. Rob has served as the district's stuttering consultant, first informally for many years and then formally since 2017. Rob has presented at the local, state, and national levels and has appeared as a guest on podcasts such as the Stuttering Foundation and StutterTalk. He has been involved in local stuttering support communities and has assisted with regional Friends one-day workshops. Rob is passionate about supporting colleagues in navigating the complexities of stuttering assessment and treatment, as well as providing and advocating for child-centered therapy based on the unique needs of each individual.