Dr. Michael Boyle, assistant professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CDIS) at Oklahoma State University, has received the National Stuttering Association’s 2015 Canadeo Family Research Award for his research examining strategies to reduce negative public perceptions of people who stutter.

Boyle was awarded $2,500 for his proposal titled, “Reducing the stigma associated with stuttering: A comparison of three strategies for change.” The study will compare the strategies of protest, education and contact with their abilities to reduce negative perceptions of people who stutter.

The study will compare the changes in perception about stuttering of 200 college students before, immediately after, and one week after watching one of four videos (three related to each strategy and one control video). Results will prove that protest, education and contact are all effective strategies to change negative perceptions of stuttering, and contact with a person who stutters is most effective.

The Canadeo Family Research Award was established in 2011 and is presented annually to provide funding for one research project per year in the areas of stuttering treatment, assessment, and basic research.

Boyle, from his personal experiences as a person who stutters, realized the social and psychological well-being of people who stutter can be limited by public and private stigma. He has spent the last six years developing a research program that will help to reduce the negative stigma surrounding stuttering.

The author of 14 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, Boyle has shared his work at more than 20 local, national and international conferences. He joined the CDIS department at OSU in 2012 after receiving his Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Pennsylvania State University.