Episode 36: Breaking stuttering myths with Farzan Irani

Texas State University’s Farzan Irani, professor in the Department of Communication Disorders at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the stereotypes and myths about stuttering.

Of particular interest to Irani is fluency development in bilingual children and the misconception that bilingual children are more likely to stutter than their monolingual counterparts. Irani has also done extensive longitudinal work on stuttering treatment outcomes. Irani oversees the Comprehensive Stuttering Therapy Program, an intensive clinical program designed for adolescents and adults who stutter that is based at Texas State’s Round Rock Campus. The program, established in 2011, is offered by the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic every July.

Irani received his bachelor's degree in speech-language pathology and audiology at the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Mumbai India. He received his master's degree and earned his doctorate in communication sciences and disorders at Bowling Green State University, Ohio. He has experience working as a graduate student and clinician at Bowling Green State University's Intensive Clinic for Adolescents and Adults. He also gained experience in delivering therapeutic services to People Who Stutter via telepractice during his doctoral program. His research interests include psychosocial aspects of stuttering, multicultural aspects of stuttering and treatment effectiveness in stuttering.

Further reading:

Texas State professor sheds light on bilingual stuttering issues

Intensive Stuttering Therapy with Telepractice Follow-Up: Longitudinal Outcomes

Classifying Disfluencies in Preschool and School-Age Spanish-English Bilinguals Who Do Not Stutter: An Exploratory Study