Bruce Preston Ryan

January 19, 1932 - July 26, 2014

Bruce was born on January 19, 1932 in Compton, California and grew up in south west Los Angeles. He stuttered as a child, received speech therapy and became a fluent speaker. His family moved to Oregon after he graduated from Manual Arts High School and earned an AA degree. He completed his Bachelors' degree in Education and taught 5th grade in Ashland, OR.

Remembering how difficult talking was as a child who stuttered, Bruce decided to pursue a career in Speech Pathology so he could help other people who stuttered. He earned a master's degree at Western Michigan University, and a PhD at The University of Pittsburg. He became interested in Skinner's Operant Behavior theory as a measurable way to improve speech fluency.

Bruce taught university students to be knowledgeable and effective speech and language pathologists at Eastern Oregon College, University of Oregon, and California State University Long Beach (where he is listed as Bruce Ryan (1978) Professor Emeritus, 1997 Communicative Disorders). He conducted research and designed therapy procedures in the areas of stuttering, language, and speech articulation, at Behavioral Sciences Institute, Monterey, CA, and Easter Seal Rehabilitation Center of Eastern Fairfield, CT. He published 20+ articles, 3 books, with 5 of 9 chapters finished for the 4th unpublished book. He was Professor Emeritus at California State University Long Beach, and was awarded "Fellow" of the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association.

Bruce died from congestive heart failure on July 26, 2014, in Long Beach, CA. Bruce devoted his life to helping people who stutter become fluent speakers. He had asked that his epitaph be, "He Tried."

In 2006, Dr. Ryan presented information at a conference and asked me to include the following handout from his presentation on The Stuttering Home Page. It is provided below deleting the request for information to participate in a study he was conducting.

The Gradual Increase in Length and Complexity of Utterance or (GILCU) (Ryan, 2001, pp. 114-121; Ryan & Van Kirk, 1978) is one of the three evidence-based treatment programs which has received recognition as a well-researched evidence-based treatment in at least seven different meta-analyses or reviews of treatment efficacy in stuttering (Brutten, 1993; Bothe, 2002; Bothe, et al., 2003; Conture, 1996; Cordes, 1998; Davidow, Crowe, & Bothe, 2004; Ryan, 2001; Thomas & Howell, 2001). Prolonged speech and the Lidcombe Program are the other two.

GILCU is a 56-step establishment (in-clinic) program starting with reading one word fluently and ending with conversing for 5 minutes with no stuttering. It is based on the principles of operant conditioning (Skinner, 1953). There are also transfer (extra-clinic generalization of fluency to outside environments) and maintenance (performance of fluent speech over time) and follow-up phases.

Evidence for this program has been collected in single-subject designs (e.g., Ryan, 1971, 1974). When a number of these studies had been completed, prospective randomized group designs were used to compare, first, four programs (Ryan & Ryan, 1983) and then later, two programs (GILCU and Prolongation) (Ryan & Ryan 1995). Finally, data (absent only control groups, Ryan, 2001 pp, 272-273) on 208 clients (8 different studies, including the above-cited studies) from the USA and two other countries will be found in Ryan (2001, pp. 118, 122).

References

Bothe, A. (2002). Speech-modification approaches to stuttering treatment in schools. In J. S. Yaruss (Ed.), Facing the challenge of treating stuttering, Part 1: Selecting Goals and strategies for success. Seminars in Speech and Language, 23, 181-186.

Bothe, A., Davidow, J., Ingham, R., Crowe, B, Bramlett, R., Levy, J., Taylor, K. (2003, November). Systematic Review of Stuttering Literature. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Speech- Language Association meeting, Chicago, IL.

Brutten, G. (Ed.) (1993). Proceedings of the NIDCD Workshop on Treatment Efficacy Research in Stuttering, September 21-22, 1992 [Special Issue]. Journal of fluency Disorders. 18, 121-361.

Conture, E. (1996). Toward efficacy: Stuttering. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 39, S18-S26.

Cordes, A. (1998). Current status of the stuttering treatment literature. In A Cordes & R. Ingham (Eds.) Treatment efficacy for stuttering: A search for empirical bases (pp.117-144). San Diego, Ca: Singular.

Davidow, J., Crowe, B., Crowne, T., & Bothe, A. (2004). "Gradual increase in Length and Complexity of Utterance" and "Extended Length of Utterance" treatment programs for stuttering: Assessing the implications of strong, but limited evidence. In A. Bothe (Ed.), Evidence-based treatment of stuttering: Empirical bases and clinical applications. (201-230). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher.

Ingham, J. (2003), Evdence-based treatment of stuttering: I. Definition and application. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 28, 197-207.

Ingham, R. Kilgo, M., Ingham, J., Moglia, R., Belknap, H., & Sanchez, T. (2001). Evaluation of a stuttering treatment based on reduction of short phonation intervals. Journal of Speech, Language, and HearingResearch, 44, 1229-1244.

Onslow, M., Costa, L., & Rue, S. (1990). Direct early intervention with stuttering: Some preliminary data. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 55, 405-416.

Ryan, B (1971). Operant procedures applied to stuttering therapy for children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 36, 264-280.

Ryan, B. (1974). Programmed stuttering therapy for children and adults. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Ryan, B. (2001). Programmed stuttering therapy for children and adults (2ND Ed). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Ryan, B. & Ryan, B. (1983). Programmed stuttering therapy for children: Comparison of four establishment programs. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 8, 291-321.

Ryan, B. & Ryan, B. (1995). Programmed stuttering treatment for children: Comparison of two establishment programs through transfer, maintenance, and follow-up. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 38, 61-75.

Ryan, B. & Van Kirk (1978). Monterey Fluency Program. Monterey, CA: Behavioral Sciences Institute.

Sackett, D.L. (1998). Evidence-based medicine. SPINE, 23, 1085-1086.

Skinner, B. F. (1953). The science of human behavior. New York, NY: MacMillan. Thomas, C. & Howell, T. (2001). Assessing efficacy of stuttering treatments. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 26, 311-333.

Bruce P. Ryan, Ph.D.
Communicative Disorders Department 305
California State University, Long Beach

Roseanne Legrand

I had the incredible experience of working with Bruce Ryan and became one of his certified trainers in his successful program for "dysfluency,". I subsequently traveled the East Coast training other speech pathologists through his organization. His program opened doors for children and adults who stuttered. I remember his ability to openly share anecdotes about his own dysfluency. He was not only intelligent but also a gentle soul. Farewell Bruce

Many, many years ago, the then Barbara Van Kirk (later to become Barbara Van Kirk Ryan) worked in CT and taught the GILCU method to many of us then young clinicians. Little did I know how much she and the program would change my life.

I loved the structure of the program, and the fact that she and Bruce were applying operant conditioning to fluency. So much has changed over the years and yet so much has not. At times, I still rely on the clear steps in this program which focused first on reading then monologue, conversation and finally transfer. I might not stick to every step like I used to but at times it's a great starting off point and I am thankful.

Recently a father and son came in so pleased to be doing 1 minute of monologue without me assigning any specific techniques. I know that I no longer need to follow every step as they had written and updated over the years, but I continue to rely on their forms, and clear, often achievable goals with children and adults.

I will miss his presence and comments at our conferences.

I too found the MFP to be an excellent tool when helping PWS. I modified the program as needed but stayed within its overall framework. Working through the program, the individual was able to understand what h/s did when stuttering and learn skills to control h/h speech. Using the program, I helped the PWS understand that stuttering was not a mysterious event that happened to h/h but rather something he did that he could control.

I had taken a week-long course from Bruce Ryan at St. Louis University in the Summer of 1979. (I could be wrong on the year). As a recent grad of the Masters Program back then, I was interested in learning about treatment of stuttering. Ok, I will admit that I thought he was quite handsome. Years passed and I had thought that I had heard that Dr. Ryan had died. When I attended the first World Congress on Fluency Disorders, I was so surprised to see him there. I went up to him and blurted out. "Dr. Ryan, I am so glad you are not dead!" I think he was too! After 36 years and many experiences working with children and adults, I may not agree with various people's approaches or theories on stuttering, I do honor their right to have their own beliefs. I honor Dr. Ryan's contributions to the profession.

Bruce Ryan was one of the original pioneers of stuttering research and treatment. His Gradual Increase in Length and Complexity of Utterance program (GILCU) stands as one of the few treatment programs for children and adults that been shown to be effective by peer reviewed research studies. Bruce was a friend and colleague, and also one of the nicest people I have ever known. He will be missed.

The Monterey Fluency Program was field tested in the early 1970s at the Easter Seal Rehab Center where I worked and eventually became Director of the Speech-Language Department. We had 2 1/2 full-time positions devoted to treating people of all ages who stuttered based on the VanKirk/Ryan fluency treatment paradigm. We saw hundreds of students/clients who stuttered over the 11 years that I worked at the Rehab Center (and by now I have seen thousands since the '70s in my private practice since 1982), and I estimate that 90%+ established and maintained fluent speech based on this program. I frequently run into past clients and/or parents and they tell me how fluent they or their children continue to be. We always tried to make people feel that they were part of a fluency team, and that speech fluency was a progressive goal. Instead of using pull-outs and cancellations to deal with stuttered moments, we taught people how to "pull through" long speech passages (reading, monolog, conversation) based on the principles of normal fluency. Some of our clients opted out of speech therapy based on personal preferences and their decisions were always respected, like opting out of a diet or exercise program. We tried not to let anyone feel belittled or that "fluency failure" was a personality flaw, but people will see things from their own perspective. We saw ourselves as coaches teaching a skill. Some of our learners were better than others but all learned from the process, including us. We taught our clients how to give speeches, reduce anxiety in speaking situations and have confidence in their talents as individuals always. As speech-language pathologists, we must constantly be aware that an inability to make changes in a client should not be communicated as client failure. Some of us do this better than others and possibly the Ryan Program has suffered from those who have trouble in this area. There are good coaches/teachers and bad coaches/teachers in all professions. Some of our clients also had personality issues similar to anyone else in the general population that may have prevented them from taking advantage of the training we had to offer. I only have to think of my own experiences with dieting and gym memberships to relate. I guess we all vary in the times we can make certain changes in our lives. I am extremely happy that I learned the Ryan Fluency Program many years ago and so are my many many clients who have benefited over the years from that training. They have told me, many of them on my website, what the experience has meant to them. Rest in peace Bruce Ryan. You did a good thing here.

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added September 25, 2015