Charles Van Riper - Legacy

Legacy

Years after his death, Charles Van Riper's work continues to be referred to and analyzed. Methods in stuttering therapy that drew from his work have been called "Van Riperian therapy" and the "Van Riper Program", and his therapy methods have seen many applications, including uses in guides for speech therapists and in whole therapy programs. Even the verbal response patterns Charles used when conducting stuttering modification therapy have been analyzed: a study found that "Van Riper's therapy during these videotaped sessions relied less on Confrontation and Self-Disclosure verbal responses and more on instructional, informational, and educational verbal response modes".

Charles was the subject of the Western Michigan University's informal talk for emeriti and friends on November 14, 2007, which discussed his professional history and writings about his childhood. Moreover, an award has been named after him: the Charles Van Riper Award "recognizes the achievements of individuals who have known the anguish of stuttering and the success of achieving effective communication". A series of nine films that show several of his therapy sessions with an adult stutterer and discusses the long term effectiveness of the therapy, has been called a "classic".