Michael Boyle

Biography

Michael P. Boyle, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an associate professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Montclair State University. He has previously served as Deputy Department Chair, Graduate Program Coordinator, and Admissions Committee Chair of the Speech-Language Pathology Master's Program, as well as serving on other major department, college, and university committees. Dr. Boyle currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in fluency disorders in addition to anatomy and physiology of speech and hearing, and has previously taught several other courses including counseling in speech-language pathology and research in speech-language pathology. 

Dr. Boyle has partnered with a variety of professional, advocacy, and consumer groups and clinics including the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, The Stuttering Foundation, Friends (the National Association for Young People Who Stutter), The National Stuttering Association, StutterTalk, The American Institute for Stuttering, and the European Clinical Excellence Network in Fluency Disorders, to provide continuing education for professionals and workshops for consumers, advocates, and clinicians. He has also founded and led a local chapter of the National Stuttering Association, and volunteers in intensive stuttering programs for children, teens, and adults who stutter, as well as support groups for adults who stutter and parents of children who stutter.

Dr. Boyle has served as an Editor for the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and as a member of the National Stuttering Association Research Committee. He has served as a peer-reviewer for over a dozen academic journals.

Dr. Boyle is a nationally certified speech-language pathologist and a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Stuttering, Cluttering, and Fluency Community (Formerly ASHA Special Interest Group 4 - Fluency and Fluency Disorders), the World Stuttering and Cluttering Organization (WSCO), and the New Jersey Speech-Language-Hearing Association. He has provided clinical services including assessment and treatment of individuals with a variety of communication disorders across the lifespan in rural and clinically under-served areas.

Dr. Boyle received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from The Pennsylvania State University in speech-language pathology. He received his B.A. in psychology from the University of Delaware.



 

Research

Dr. Boyle has published numerous articles and book chapters in the area of stuttering. His research focuses on identifying, assessing, and reducing stigma related to stuttering, in addition to identifying predictors of well-being, quality of life, and communicative participation in people who stutter. He developed the Self-Stigma of Stuttering Scale (4S) which is used internationally to identify and assess self-stigma in people who stutter. His research has also been instrumental in identifying and testing various approaches to reduce public stigma linked to stuttering in addition to identifying best practices for being open about stuttering. These approaches have been utilized by various clinics and organizations that help people who stutter worldwide. 

His current projects in the Fluency Disorders Laboratory at Montclair State include adapting a participation-focused framework of service delivery to the treatment of stuttering, investigating the link between mindfulness and communicative participation and well-being among people who stutter, and identifying the role of self-compassion in long-term coping with stuttering. Dr. Boyle remains active helping to translate the 4S scale internationally and helping researchers around the world test the effects of stigma reduction interventions.

See Dr. Boyle's Google Scholar Profile

Publications

Selected recent publications:

Iimura, D., Takahashi, S., Aoki, M., Yoshizawa, K., Yanai, K., Miyamoto, S., & Boyle, M. (2026). Relationships between psychosocial aspects of stuttering and self-disclosure of stuttering in a Japanese sample. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 106233. 10.1016/j.jfludis.2026.106233

Beita-Ell, C., & Boyle, M. P. (2026). Intersectionality and stuttering: A sociolinguistic perspective. Journal of Communication Disorders, 119, 106607, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2025.106607

Boyle, M., Byles, S., Law, T., Mendes, S., & Onslow, M. (2025). Contemporary clinical conversations about stuttering: What assessment is necessary before clinical management of pre-schoolers? International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 1–10. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2025.2576051

Boyle, M. P., & Rosen, A. L. (2025). More than meets the eye: Self-rated covert stuttering is linked to reduced psychosocial and communicative outcomes. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 86, 106162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2025.106162

Wesierska, M., Świsłocka, N., Węsierska, K., & Boyle, M. P. (2025). Polish adaptation of the Self-Stigma of Stuttering Scale: Scale development and analysis. Journal of fluency disorders, 85, 106138. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2025.106138

Irani, F., Azios, M., Boyle, M., Coalson, G. A., Palasik, S., Rodriguez, J., & Swartz, E. (2025). Reimagining stuttering therapy and outcomes through an acceptance and collaborative lens. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 83, 106105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2025.106105

Johnson, C., Gerwin, K., Tichenor, S., Boyle, M. P., Walsh B. (2024). Evaluating stuttering self-stigma and its relationship to adverse impact in children and adolescents with The Child Stuttering Self-Stigma Scale (Child 4S). Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67, 2920-2934. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-24-00069

Boyle, M. P., & Cheyne, M. R. (2024). Major discrimination due to stuttering and its association with quality of life. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 80, 106051. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2024.106051

 

Honors & Awards

Dr. Boyle's seminal article advocating for the exploration and use of mindfulness practices in stuttering therapy was recognized as one of the 50 most influential articles published over the 50 year history of the Journal of Fluency Disorders for its contribution to the advancement of stuttering treatment.

Dr. Boyle's Self-Stigma of Stuttering Scale (4S) has been translated into many different languages and is used internationally by researchers and clinicians aiming to identify and treat self-stigma in their clients who stutter. The 4S has been adapted and used for research and clinical use in countries including Norway, Turkey, Japan, Poland, and Italy, and has also been translated for clinical use in Arabic, Persian, Swedish, Croatian, European Portuguese, French, Indonesian, and Spanish.

Dr. Boyle has been an invited keynote speaker nationally in the United States, and internationally in England, France, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, and Chile, to educate other professionals, advocates, and consumers, with the goal of reducing stigma and increasing empowerment, well-being, and participation of people who stutter and their families.

Dr. Boyle has been the recipient of the National Stuttering Association Research Fund Award, the National Stuttering Association Canadeo Family Research Award, and the Advancing Academic Research Careers Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.