Friends Virtual Programs and One-Day Events
CHOP Hub for Clinical Collaboration, 278 Shady Brook Drive, Langhorne, PA 19047
About
Friends Virtual Programs and One-Day Events include presentations, small discussion groups, panel presentations, group activities, large group activities, and shared meals. Children’s programming is activity-based and focuses on feelings about and strategies for dealing with stuttering. The program also offers Break the Blocks Improv for teens and tweens who stutter, as well as full days of group activities, presentations, and panels during one-day events.
• Ages: 6–18 years old
• Schedule: Monthly virtual programming for kids, teens, young adults, and parents, including Virtual Kids Group, Virtual Parent Group in English, Virtual Teen Group, and Virtual Adults Group
Friends aims to provide support, education and empowerment to children and teens who stutter, their families and clinicians. Friends: The National Association of Young People Who Stutter is a national nonprofit organization that was founded in 1997. Friends hosts a large annual convention each July and many regional one-day conferences around the country throughout the year, including a 3-day immersive convention with family-oriented events, keynote speakers, and workshops for all. One-day events are family-oriented and include assessment and treatment for clients of all ages who stutter, have other fluency disorders, or have other speech and language needs, and are also a place for speech-language pathologists and students to learn more about stuttering, current therapy approaches, and the support available to people who stutter, while earning 0.55 ASHA CEUs. Friends is the only national nonprofit organization dedicated solely to empowering young people who stutter and their families, and its annual conventions and regional one day conferences are described as providing life-changing experiences that can impact long lasting feelings about stuttering and offer new hope for a life with stuttering.
The leadership and professional team connected with Friends includes founders John Ahlbach and Lee Caggiano, and speech-language pathologists such as Nicholas Brow, M.A., CCC-SLP; Caryn Herring MS, CCC-SLP; Kristin A. Chmela, M.A., CCC-SLP BCS-F; Katie Gore, MA, CCC-SLP; Shelby Potts M.S. CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF; Rita D. Thurman, M.S., CCC, BCS-F; Elisha Boxer Magnifico, MA, CCC-SLP; Nick Caruso M.S., CCC-SLP; and others in salaried or independent contractor roles with Friends: The National Association of Young People Who Stutter. One testimonial from a convention attendee states, “We felt like we ‘belonged’ as soon as we arrived at the hotel. We benefitted so much from hearing of other families’ journeys, their challenges and their victories.”
Last updated July 28, 2026.
• Ages: 6–18 years old
• Schedule: Monthly virtual programming for kids, teens, young adults, and parents, including Virtual Kids Group, Virtual Parent Group in English, Virtual Teen Group, and Virtual Adults Group
Friends aims to provide support, education and empowerment to children and teens who stutter, their families and clinicians. Friends: The National Association of Young People Who Stutter is a national nonprofit organization that was founded in 1997. Friends hosts a large annual convention each July and many regional one-day conferences around the country throughout the year, including a 3-day immersive convention with family-oriented events, keynote speakers, and workshops for all. One-day events are family-oriented and include assessment and treatment for clients of all ages who stutter, have other fluency disorders, or have other speech and language needs, and are also a place for speech-language pathologists and students to learn more about stuttering, current therapy approaches, and the support available to people who stutter, while earning 0.55 ASHA CEUs. Friends is the only national nonprofit organization dedicated solely to empowering young people who stutter and their families, and its annual conventions and regional one day conferences are described as providing life-changing experiences that can impact long lasting feelings about stuttering and offer new hope for a life with stuttering.
The leadership and professional team connected with Friends includes founders John Ahlbach and Lee Caggiano, and speech-language pathologists such as Nicholas Brow, M.A., CCC-SLP; Caryn Herring MS, CCC-SLP; Kristin A. Chmela, M.A., CCC-SLP BCS-F; Katie Gore, MA, CCC-SLP; Shelby Potts M.S. CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF; Rita D. Thurman, M.S., CCC, BCS-F; Elisha Boxer Magnifico, MA, CCC-SLP; Nick Caruso M.S., CCC-SLP; and others in salaried or independent contractor roles with Friends: The National Association of Young People Who Stutter. One testimonial from a convention attendee states, “We felt like we ‘belonged’ as soon as we arrived at the hotel. We benefitted so much from hearing of other families’ journeys, their challenges and their victories.”
Last updated July 28, 2026.
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