Charles Van Riper
Encyclopedia
Charles Gage Van Riper was a renowned speech therapist who became internationally known as a pioneer in the development of speech pathology. A severe stutterer throughout his career, he is described as having had the most influence of any speech-language pathologist in the field of stuttering.
, Michigan
. He was the son of Champion's physician
, known as "Dr. Van". Charles began to stutter at two years of age, and had a "miserable childhood" growing up in in the midst of local superstition
about stutterers. Even though he stuttered throughout his schooling years, he did very well academically, reading voraciously and showing great talent for writing. He subsequently attended the Northern Michigan Normal School
, and then the University of Michigan
where he won honors for creative writing and graduated with a Master of Arts
in English. After graduation, he taught high school English in Saline, Michigan
, developing many techniques for dealing with his stuttering while teaching. Although he was regarded as a proficient and innovative teacher, the stress of his stuttering and his fear of speaking in many situations, made him unhappy at teaching.
A severe stutterer, Charles attended two institutes for stutterers, the Bogue Institute of Stammerers in Indianapolis and the Millard School in Milwaukee, but these institutions did little good; at the time, "nobody had actually taken the trouble to learn about stuttering, so nobody knew how to cure it". He subsequently joined a graduate program in speech pathology at Iowa, where he and other graduate students tried to develop "practical techniques" of a treatment for stuttering. These attempts proved successful, and after several years in Iowa, Charles received his Ph.D. in speech pathology.
In 1936, Charles was hired by the Western Michigan State Normal School
in Kalamazoo
. He founded and headed its speech clinic, and was the first chair of its speech pathology and audiology
department. During his subsequent career he became internationally known as a pioneer in the development of the science of speech pathology; he worked with thousands of stutterers, did research, and published a large number of books, articles and films on the subject. Under the pseudonym "Cully Gage", Charles also wrote The Northwoods Reader, a series of books based on life in Champion.
Charles stuttered throughout his career despite trying almost every sort of stuttering therapy
, ranging from rhythmic control, relaxation, slow speech, and breathing exercises, to psychoanalysis
and hypnosis
. He eventually managed to become very fluent even though he continued to stutter. Charles wrote in a letter to a newsletter that he had lived a "very successful and happy life", a result of an idea that came to him while hitch-hiking his way home from Rhinelander
, Wisconsin
, where he had spent a month as the hired man on a farm, pretending to be a deaf mute because his stuttering was so severe that he could not get any other employment: he met an old stutterer who said that he was "too old and tired to fight myself now so I just let the words leak out"; Charles realised that he should have been seeking a way of stuttering that would be tolerable both to others and himself, instead of avoiding and hiding his stutter.
Charles died in his home in Kalamazoo, after a long illness.
in the field. Textbooks he authored have been used in both undergraduate and graduate courses in stuttering.
Charles approached stuttering from the viewpoint that the stutterer should scrutinize his stuttering behavior, to become aware of everything he did from anticipation of stuttering, to struggling during a block, and to the utterance of the word. A speech-language clinician using his methodology was to explain to her client the nature of the many attitudes and behaviors of stutterers. Wendell Johnson, a member of the same graduate program in Iowa who also became renowned for his work in the field of stuttering, said that Charles Van Riper's methodology was hard work. As a clinician, Charles was known for being warm and sympathetic, but tough on adult stutterers who refused to work and cooperate with him, since they were expected to be able and willing to practice behaviors and attitudes that would minimize their stuttering.
Charles was the subject of the Western Michigan University
's informal talk for emeriti and friends on November 14, 2007, which discussed his professional history and writings about his childhood. Moreover, an award has been named after him: the Charles Van Riper Award "recognizes the achievements of individuals who have known the anguish of stuttering and the success of achieving effective communication". A series of nine films that show several of his therapy sessions with an adult stutterer and discusses the long term effectiveness of the therapy, has been called a "classic". Additionally, one of Charles' sayings would be remembered years after his death: “stuttering is everything we do trying not to stutter.”
Biography
Charles Van Riper, known to his family as Cully, grew up in Champion TownshipChampion Township, Michigan
Champion Township is a civil township of Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 297.-Geography:...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. He was the son of Champion's physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, known as "Dr. Van". Charles began to stutter at two years of age, and had a "miserable childhood" growing up in in the midst of local superstition
Superstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
about stutterers. Even though he stuttered throughout his schooling years, he did very well academically, reading voraciously and showing great talent for writing. He subsequently attended the Northern Michigan Normal School
Northern Michigan University
Northern Michigan University is a four-year college public university established in 1899 located in Marquette, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. With a population of nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, Northern Michigan University is the Upper Peninsula's largest...
, and then the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
where he won honors for creative writing and graduated with a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in English. After graduation, he taught high school English in Saline, Michigan
Saline, Michigan
Saline is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,810.The city is popular for its annual Celtic Festival, which attracts people from all over the United States and its sister cities Brecon, Wales and Lindenberg, Germany...
, developing many techniques for dealing with his stuttering while teaching. Although he was regarded as a proficient and innovative teacher, the stress of his stuttering and his fear of speaking in many situations, made him unhappy at teaching.
A severe stutterer, Charles attended two institutes for stutterers, the Bogue Institute of Stammerers in Indianapolis and the Millard School in Milwaukee, but these institutions did little good; at the time, "nobody had actually taken the trouble to learn about stuttering, so nobody knew how to cure it". He subsequently joined a graduate program in speech pathology at Iowa, where he and other graduate students tried to develop "practical techniques" of a treatment for stuttering. These attempts proved successful, and after several years in Iowa, Charles received his Ph.D. in speech pathology.
In 1936, Charles was hired by the Western Michigan State Normal School
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
in Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
. He founded and headed its speech clinic, and was the first chair of its speech pathology and audiology
Audiology
Audiology is the branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Its practitioners, who treat those with hearing loss and proactively prevent related damage are audiologists. Employing various testing strategies Audiology (from Latin , "to hear"; and from Greek , -logia) is...
department. During his subsequent career he became internationally known as a pioneer in the development of the science of speech pathology; he worked with thousands of stutterers, did research, and published a large number of books, articles and films on the subject. Under the pseudonym "Cully Gage", Charles also wrote The Northwoods Reader, a series of books based on life in Champion.
Charles stuttered throughout his career despite trying almost every sort of stuttering therapy
Stuttering therapy
Stuttering therapy is any of the various treatment methods that attempt to reduce stuttering to some degree in an individual. Stuttering can be a challenge to treat because there is a lack of evidence-based consensus about therapy...
, ranging from rhythmic control, relaxation, slow speech, and breathing exercises, to psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
and hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
. He eventually managed to become very fluent even though he continued to stutter. Charles wrote in a letter to a newsletter that he had lived a "very successful and happy life", a result of an idea that came to him while hitch-hiking his way home from Rhinelander
Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Rhinelander is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 7,735 at the 2000 census.-Claim to fame:...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, where he had spent a month as the hired man on a farm, pretending to be a deaf mute because his stuttering was so severe that he could not get any other employment: he met an old stutterer who said that he was "too old and tired to fight myself now so I just let the words leak out"; Charles realised that he should have been seeking a way of stuttering that would be tolerable both to others and himself, instead of avoiding and hiding his stutter.
Charles died in his home in Kalamazoo, after a long illness.
Career
Charles Van Riper developed stuttering modification therapy between 1936 and 1958. This type of therapy focussed on reducing the fears and anxieties of adult stutterers, and added methods to modify the "core behaviors" of stuttering, to make them less physically stressful. This therapy is one of the most widely practiced stuttering treatments. Additionally, several of his books were the authoritative books on the subject for a number of years, namely The Nature of Stuttering, The Treatment of Stuttering and Speech Correction: Principles and Methods, the latter book being the first textbookTextbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...
in the field. Textbooks he authored have been used in both undergraduate and graduate courses in stuttering.
Charles approached stuttering from the viewpoint that the stutterer should scrutinize his stuttering behavior, to become aware of everything he did from anticipation of stuttering, to struggling during a block, and to the utterance of the word. A speech-language clinician using his methodology was to explain to her client the nature of the many attitudes and behaviors of stutterers. Wendell Johnson, a member of the same graduate program in Iowa who also became renowned for his work in the field of stuttering, said that Charles Van Riper's methodology was hard work. As a clinician, Charles was known for being warm and sympathetic, but tough on adult stutterers who refused to work and cooperate with him, since they were expected to be able and willing to practice behaviors and attitudes that would minimize their stuttering.
Legacy
Years after his death, Charles Van Riper's work continues to be referred to and analyzed. Methods in stuttering therapy that drew from his work have been called "Van Raperian therapy" and the "Van Riper Program", and his therapy methods have seen many applications, including uses in guides for speech therapists and in whole therapy programs. Even the verbal response patterns Charles used when conducting stuttering modification therapy have been analyzed: a study found that "Van Riper's therapy during these videotaped sessions relied less on Confrontation and Self-Disclosure verbal responses and more on instructional, informational, and educational verbal response modes".Charles was the subject of the Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
's informal talk for emeriti and friends on November 14, 2007, which discussed his professional history and writings about his childhood. Moreover, an award has been named after him: the Charles Van Riper Award "recognizes the achievements of individuals who have known the anguish of stuttering and the success of achieving effective communication". A series of nine films that show several of his therapy sessions with an adult stutterer and discusses the long term effectiveness of the therapy, has been called a "classic". Additionally, one of Charles' sayings would be remembered years after his death: “stuttering is everything we do trying not to stutter.”