Speaking of success: Rodney Gabel named president-elect of nationally recognized stuttering organization

At 13, Rodney Gabel, who struggled with a stutter, discovered a book by the founding father of speech pathology that changed his life.

The author, Charles Van Riper, wrote in a 1991 newsletter to the National Stuttering Association: “All my life I’d been trying to talk without stuttering… what I should have been seeking was a way of stuttering that would be tolerable both to others and myself, that it was possible to stutter so easily and effortlessly that it wouldn’t matter, that I could stutter and communicate well anyway.”

Fast-forward to today, and it is clear how that philosophy shaped Gabel’s career and how the speech and language pathology field has evolved.

In September, Gabel became one of the profession’s most influential voices when he was named president-elect of the World Stuttering and Cluttering Organization (WSCO), formerly the International Fluency Association. This name change reflects Van Riper’s — and now the field’s — opinion that speech and language pathologists should focus on teaching individuals how to manage, learn and live with stuttering rather than forcing fluency that often fails.

“The president-elect role was always a bucket list item in my mind,” Gabel said. “At this point in my career, I think I’m ready. It’s the next logical step, and I think it’ll be a good thing for me.”

The six-year term (three as president-elect and three as president) will continue Gabel’s 20+-year history in academia, which has included work in a variety of roles at Bowling Green State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Ohio University, The University of Toledo and the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences.

Gabel, founding director of the Division of Speech and Language Pathology (SLP) at Binghamton’s Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences, has been at the University for four years and has overseen significant growth.

“I liked the idea of coming in and starting a new program instead of becoming the chair of a program that had existed forever. It’s hard to make any changes in programs like that once they’re started,” Gabel said. “As I was talking with [Decker College Dean Mario Ortiz] and doing my research, I was amazed at how great this university is. It checked a lot of my ‘hopes and dreams’ boxes.”

Gabel’s first achievement at Binghamton was establishing a minor in speech and hearing science after realizing undergraduates throughout the University who had careers in SLP in mind had no program on campus to follow.

“The students told me they were taking all the courses they needed for graduate study at different schools around the state and the country online,” he said. “I asked Dean Ortiz if we could do something about this, and in the summer of 2021, we began the minor!”

At the same time, the newly founded Division of SLP began the accreditation process for a master’s program in speech-language pathology. After four years of review and refinement and a building change (the program is now located in Binghamton University’s JC Center), the MS program was approved in March 2024 and began accepting students. The first cohort comprises 27 students, and the program aims to recruit 50 additional students each year.

“What has been interesting about being at this university is that things happen,” Gabel said. “Everything I’ve done, as long as I’ve had a good justification, there’s been an amazing amount of support and avenues for funding. It’s been an amazing experience, and it’s great that the University, from the dean to the president, has been so helpful.”
Gabel has led the Division of SLP faculty in developing off-campus clinical placements for students and the on-campus Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic. These opportunities enable the students to practice fieldwork while serving the community’s speech and language therapy needs.

“I found out very quickly that there is a tremendous shortage of speech-language pathologists in our surrounding community,” he said. “I started to work with local community agencies, United Health Services and a few school systems to support clinical service programs and come up with a plan to help in the short term until we start graduating students. We developed several contracts to place our clinical faculty in these facilities. We are continuing several contracted positions this year.”

Gabel’s work paved the way for Binghamton to become a charter location for the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research. Courtney Byrd, the founding and executive director of the Blank Center and a close friend of Gabel, is the current president of the WSCO. This connection will help the program continue to thrive in innovative ways.

“One of the hallmarks of the Blank Center is their camp, “Camp Dream, Speak, Live.” and we’re going to bring the camp to Binghamton next summer,” Gabel said. “The Blank Center has developed a great model, the CARE Model, and they will guide and consult with us. It opens many opportunities for a community — for kids to receive therapy and help graduate students learn, do research and collaborate.”

Gabel also hopes to continue projects he has already established. For instance, in partnership with Emmanuel Addo, a Binghamton PhD student and the president of the Ghana Stammering Association, Gabel is reintroducing an online therapy program he previously conducted for individuals in Rwanda. The program was initially coordinated through the African Stammering Center and was presented at the Joint World Congress on Stuttering and Cluttering in 2022. Seven speech therapists in Ghana completed the five-week, self-paced Brightspace course. A second cohort will begin this course Oct. 1.

As Gabel’s career grows and his work at Binghamton expands (he also serves as vice chair of the University’s Faculty Senate), he looks forward to the next step. But one thing he has known since he started remains true for everyone in his profession.

“I’m standing on the shoulders of giants all the time,” Gabel said. “We’re all speech-language pathologists, and I think our impact — being a professor, being a therapist, it’s about people. I have had the honor of helping some great families, kids and adults who stutter. I hope they have benefited and will continue from the programs I have built.”