The Blank Center CARE™ Model
What is the Blank Center CARE™ Model?
The Blank Center CARE™ Model (Communication, Advocacy, Resiliency, Education) is a strengths-based approach to the assessment and treatment of stuttering developed by Dr. Courtney Byrd, Founding and Executive Director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research at The University of Texas at Austin.
Rather than trying to reduce or eliminate stuttering, the CARE Model teaches and practices the skills that empower children, teens, and adults who stutter to stutter openly, speak confidently, communicate effectively, and advocate meaningfully, so they can Dream. Speak. Live.® It rests on the evidence-based understanding that when people who stutter (1) learn that communication is not defined or limited by fluency, (2) learn to share about their stuttering meaningfully, (3) develop the resiliency needed to navigate adversity, and (4) become experts on stuttering, they are empowered to live their lives to the fullest.
Developed by Dr. Courtney Byrd, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Founding and Executive Director, the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research · Professor, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Byrd developed and refined the Blank Center CARE™ Model over more than two decades of research and clinical practice, together with the researchers and clinicians of the Blank Center. Read Dr. Byrd’s full bio.
What does CARE stand for?
CARE is an acronym for the four pillars that guide every part of the Blank Center’s treatment, research, and training.
Communication
Communication is the core of human connection. Increasing communication competence yields benefits to self-esteem, provides destigmatization, and broader psychosocial and vocational gains.
Advocacy
Advocacy is the building block of empathy. Educating others about stuttering helps reduce negative stereotypes and empowers the self.
Resiliency
Resiliency is critical to mental well-being, because societal expectations of “fluency” combined with pervasive misunderstanding of stuttering can lead to negative social interactions.
Education
Education is fundamental to empowerment. Increased knowledge of stuttering, communication, and common misconceptions equips people who stutter to be effective advocates for themselves and the wider stuttering community.
Who developed the CARE Model?
The Blank Center CARE™ Model was developed by Dr. Courtney Byrd at The University of Texas at Austin and is the signature approach of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research, which Dr. Byrd founded and directs.
Its origins trace to Dr. Byrd’s first clinical experience more than 30 years ago, when she was trained to make a young man who stuttered practice speaking without stuttering. Recognizing that this fluency-centered approach was hurting rather than helping, she set out to build an approach to stuttering grounded in the lived experiences of people who stutter, one that rejects society’s traditional definition of “fluency” and instead targets communication, advocacy, resiliency, and education.
For more than two decades, Dr. Byrd and the Blank Center team, a diverse group of researchers and clinicians who do and do not stutter, have tested, revised, and refined the model. The model has been formally described in the peer-reviewed literature as the Blank Center CARE™ Model of Treatment (Byrd, Coalson, and Conture, 2024). Today it informs every Blank Center program, including the Blank Center CARE™ Manual, the Blank Center CARE™ Model Assessment, Camp Dream. Speak. Live., and clinical training delivered across 40+ countries.
How is the CARE Model different?
- Fluency is not the goal. The CARE Model excludes any clinical goal designed to change how often or how severely a person stutters.
- Strengths-based, whole-person. Treatment affirms and expands each person’s distinct strengths rather than attempting to correct, cure, or fix stuttering.
- Communication and fluency are independent. Research on the model shows communication competence improves after treatment regardless of stuttering severity.
- Prevents the “iceberg.” For young children, CARE proactively prevents the negative attitudes and avoidance that fluency-centered treatment can create; for older children, teens, and adults, it helps melt them.
Research behind the CARE Model
The Blank Center CARE™ Model is supported by a growing body of peer-reviewed research led by Dr. Byrd and Blank Center colleagues. Foundational publications include:
Byrd, C. T., Coalson, G. A., and Conture, E. G. (2024). CARE Model of Treatment for stuttering: Theory, assumptions, and preliminary findings. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1488328. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1488328
Coalson, G. A., and Byrd, C. T. (2025). Social validation of post-treatment outcomes of adults who stutter who participated in CARE Model treatment: Replication and extension. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, 6, 1541059. https://doi.org/10.3389/fresc.2025.1541059
Browse the full list of Blank Center publications on our Research Articles page.
How to refer to the CARE Model
Writing about the CARE Model in an article, course, presentation, or news story? Please use the following description so the model is attributed accurately.
The Blank Center CARE™ Model (Communication, Advocacy, Resiliency, Education) is a strengths-based approach to the assessment and treatment of stuttering developed by Dr. Courtney Byrd, Founding and Executive Director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research at The University of Texas at Austin.
Suggested citation: Byrd, C. T., Coalson, G. A., and Conture, E. G. (2024). CARE Model of Treatment for stuttering: Theory, assumptions, and preliminary findings. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1488328.
Frequently asked questions
Who created the CARE Model for stuttering?
The CARE Model was created by Dr. Courtney Byrd, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Founding and Executive Director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research at The University of Texas at Austin. It is formally known as the Blank Center CARE™ Model.
Is the CARE Model a fluency treatment?
No. The CARE Model is a distinct approach from fluency-centered treatments such as fluency shaping and stuttering modification. It does not set goals to reduce or change stuttering. Instead it targets communication competence, self-advocacy, resiliency, and education about stuttering.
Who is the CARE Model for?
The Blank Center offers CARE programming for preschoolers, school-age children, teens, and adults who stutter, in person in Austin, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia, and virtually worldwide. It is also used by speech-language pathologists and school districts trained by the Blank Center.
Where can I learn or implement the CARE Model?
The Blank Center publishes the Blank Center CARE™ Manual and the Blank Center CARE™ Model Assessment, offers continuing-education courses and clinical training, and hosts Camp Dream. Speak. Live. at locations around the world. Visit our Training page or email stuttering@austin.utexas.edu.
What is the evidence for the CARE Model?
Peer-reviewed studies by Dr. Byrd and Blank Center colleagues report significant post-treatment gains in communication competence, confirmed by untrained observers, regardless of stuttering severity. See the research section above for citations.