Our clients will tell you that AIS is like a second home, and the people, a second family.
While many people who stutter first come to AIS and describe feeling alone and helpless, they soon discover a place where they know they are understood and supported — a place where they can free their voice.
We offer a range of services including early intervention for children as young as two years,
individual stuttering therapy for children and adults, specialty group workshops, a weekly practice and support group, and week-long immersion programs that run throughout the year.
We conduct sessions over the internet for clients for whom telepractice is a more convenient option.
Our clients have come from around the country and from at least a dozen countries worldwide.
Our Mission
AIS is a leading not-for-profit Center whose primary mission is to provide universally affordable, state-of-the-art speech therapy to people of all ages who stutter, guidance to their families, and much-needed clinical training to speech professionals wishing to gain expertise in stuttering.
Our mission extends to advancing public and scholarly understanding of this often misunderstood disorder.
Our History
AIS was founded in 1998 by Catherine Otto Montgomery, a talented and much-loved speech-language-pathologist who worked with people who stutter for over 30 years.
Aware of the great need for universally affordable treatment options, specialized professional training, and increased public education about stuttering, Catherine transformed her private practice into a non-profit center dedicated to meeting these needs.
As a therapist, Catherine promoted the use of integrated treatment protocols that address both the overt symptoms of stuttering as well as the underlying emotional and cognitive components.
She developed an intensive therapy program that addressed stuttering holistically, recognizing the complex nature of the disorder.
Early on, AIS became a powerful voice in Washington, calling for an increase in government support for stuttering research. AIS was instrumental in successfully persuading Congress to introduce groundbreaking legislation, and a State of the Science Conference on Stuttering followed.
As a result, the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders launched targeted research initiative on stuttering.
AIS remains dedicated to carrying on the legacy of its founder, striving everyday to help people who stutter to “Speak Freely, and Live Fearlessly.”
