About
Welcome! I am a person who stutters, researcher, speech-language pathologist, board-certified stuttering specialist, amateur librarian, lego enthusiast, and an Associate Professor at Duquesne University in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology. I research stuttering (what it is, how it happens, how it affects people, and how to better help people who stutter in therapy) and teach courses related to stuttering and counseling. See my CV for more details.
Short Bio
Seth E. Tichenor is an Associate Professor at Duquesne University in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology. His research interests include better understanding and predicting individual differences in the experience of stuttering, understanding how adverse impact related to the condition develops, and determining how moments of stuttering occur in speech. His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health. He practices clinically as a board-certified stuttering specialist and is actively involved in clinical education regarding stuttering assessment and treatment. He has received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship at Duquesne University and the Early-Career Research Award by the World Stuttering and Cluttering Organization. Seth holds a Ph.D. from Michigan State University, a M.S. in Speech-Language pathology the University of Pittsburgh, and a A.B. in Classics (with double minors in Ancient Greek and Mathematics) from Wabash College.
Brief Summary on My Research
My research merges person-centered perspectives, neurophysiology, and clinical research via large-scale cross-sectional studies, behavioral paradigms, neuroimaging, and qualitative methods. I highlight the main threads of my research below.
Many people who stutter are at risk for significant adverse impact related to the condition. My research in this thread simultaneously specifies collective group experiences and sub-group characteristics that make certain stutterers unique (prone to higher amounts of adverse impact than their peers). This informs clinical practice, helping therapists more effectively intervene with people who stutter at-risk for greater adverse impact. With colleagues at Michigan State University, we are currently conducting large-scale survey NIH-funded research with children who stutter, their parents, and speech-language pathologists to understand and predict the development of adverse impact related to stuttering.
Moments of stuttering are known to be highly variable across time and situation, though the reasons for this variability are not well-understood. This is problematic, because the apparent unpredictability of stuttering contributes greatly to the negative impact that stuttering causes on a person’s quality of life in a 2020 publication in AJSLP. It also directly affects accurate diagnosis, effectiveness of intervention, and treatment outcomes. My research seeks to better understand the lead-in processes underlying moments of stuttering to account for this as-yet-unexplained variance by better specifying why, when, and how moments of stuttering occur and how people who stutter seek to conceal their stuttering. In this thread am currently conducting NIH-funded research exploring how differences in cognitive processes sub-group adults who stutter and statistically predict concealment and stuttering.
Lastly, my friend and colleague Dr. Christopher Constantino and I are currently writing an update to Charles Van Riper’s classic treatment text on Stuttering Modification Therapy. We are happy to say this book is in progress and should be published in early 2028, stay tuned for more information!
You can see more about my research on my Research Page.
PGHStuttering
PGHStuttering is a collaboration of researchers (myself and my friend Dr Mandy Hampton Wray), scientists, clinicians, people who stutter, families, and stuttering allies. Our purpose is to be a resource for local therapy options, self-help and support groups, research opportunities, and events related to stuttering in the Pittsburgh area. checkout the website for more information about upcoming events, support, and therapy.
Running, Philosophy, Mathematics, and Musings
When I graduated from Wabash in 2010, I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted to go in life. I am forever grateful for my dear friend and fellow Wabash alumnus, the late Bruce Baker, for supporting me in becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist. I met my wife, Allison, while I was graduate school and we now have two amazing daughters. Being a #girldad is the best, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. In my free time I like to run, garden, read philosophy or Spanish Gothic novels, code in R, and attend church with my family.
Cheers,
Seth