Interference and the stuttering experience
This presentation will focus on the brain and stuttering and how we may be able to control our stuttering by controlling our brain. More specifically, it will focus on interhemispheric neural interference operating on vulnerable speech motor mechanisms in people who stutter, considering the nature of this interference and ways it can be modified. Drawing on the results of his neuropsychology research program exploring what is different about the brain of the person who stutters and what underlies variation in stuttering severity, he will tie these findings with his personal and professional experiences to provide a practical framework for strategies to control stuttering and enhance oral communication ease and success.
About the Speaker
William (Will) Webster is a retired university professor, former dean, and a person who stutters. He graduated from McGill University (B.Sc. 1965) and completed graduate studies at Cornell University (MA 1966) and Pennsylvania State University (Ph.D. 1970). He was Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Carleton University, where he established an active research program focused on brain mechanisms underlying stuttering. In 1989, he co-authored with Marie Poulos Facilitating fluency: Transfer strategies for adult stuttering treatment programs, and in 2025 published Stuttering and its management: What the brain tells us. Will later served as Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Brock University, Director of the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Western University, and from 2005 to 2016 as Dean of the Faculty of Health Professions at Dalhousie University. He currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia.