Real-world speaking practice - without the real-world unpredictability

What this is (and isn't)

Therapy withVR is a clinician-controlled practice tool. Your client wears a Meta Quest headset. You sit at your laptop and shape what happens in the scene - the environment, the avatars, the emotions, the sounds, the conversation - in real time. It extends what you already do. It does not replace your clinical judgment. It does not diagnose, treat, or score.

• No accuracy targets. Nothing is scored. Progress is what you and the client define.
• No speech policing. The software does not measure speech. You decide what matters.
• No audio or video recorded. Ever. Profile names are encrypted. You control what data exists.
• No "AI replaces you" vibe. Every feature is toggleable. The AI is off by default.

Why SLPs come back to it

• It bridges clinic to real life. What a client can do with you in the quiet of a session is not always what they can do at the supermarket, the job interview, or the classroom. VR sits in between - realistic enough to feel like it matters, controlled enough that you can adjust in real time.
• Setup takes minutes, not hours. Save a profile for each client, each goal, each scenario. Load it next session in one click. Your planning time goes down.
• One tool, many caseloads. Stuttering. Aphasia. Voice (including gender-affirming voice). Selective mutism. TBI cognitive-communication. Dysarthria. Apraxia. Social anxiety. Hearing differences. See Scenarios by caseload for where to start.
• It stays in your control. You are the one making decisions about what happens next. The client is in a safe practice space, not performing for a machine.
• Evidence-informed. Design principles drawn from 100+ peer-reviewed studies. Used in published RCTs and active research. See the Evidence Hub, or the Nudelman et al. 2026 scoping review in AJSLP - the first peer-reviewed map of the immersive VR / communication-differences literature.

Starting point by caseload

A short, honest starting guide for the populations SLPs most commonly bring to Therapy withVR. Not a prescription - every individual is different.

Hear it from other SLPs

"He was able to customize the scene to his comfort level. He stood in front of a full classroom and spoke to the children. Then they started talking about stuttering - which is really amazing, because he never wants to talk about stuttering with anyone. We would never have reached this without VR."

- Tjitske Hofstee-Bootsma, Speech-Language Therapist, De Stotterpraktijk, Netherlands

"We've used it for so many different things - building confidence to stammer without hiding it, ordering food, giving a presentation, coping with teasing. We've also been using it with people with DLD and autistic clients, and in groups too."

- Nicola Maddy, Speech and Language Therapist, South West Yorkshire Partnership Teaching NHS Foundation Trust

What you'll need

• Your everyday laptop. Web app runs in any browser. Nothing to install.
• A Meta Quest headset (recommended: Quest 3S, ~$350 / €350). For the VR side. Sold directly by Meta or your preferred retailer; withVR does not sell hardware. You can also run Therapy withVR without a headset for video calls, introductions, or clients who are not headset-ready.
• WiFi. A standard connection works. Enterprise networks like eduroam are not compatible with Meta Quest - use a personal hotspot or guest network.
• About an hour for onboarding. You get a live training call with a real person - not a self-serve video.

Need to send IT a full system-requirements list (browsers, OS versions, firewall domains, ports)? See the Compatibility page.

On privacy, consent, and CE use

• No audio or video is captured by the software. Profile names are AES-encrypted. EU data hosting (Frankfurt). GDPR compliant.
• For US clinical and school use: the platform is designed so that no PHI and no FERPA-protected student data should ever enter the system. Session data consists only of configuration settings and text labels you choose - never client names, diagnoses, health records, or student identifiers. Use role-based profile labels ("Introductions - Grade 2") rather than names. For school districts, a Student Data Privacy Agreement (including the SDPC National DPA) and a FERPA agreement are available on request - email legal@withvr.app. The Compliance page has the full overview; the Educational Use Policy has the underlying detail.
• Printable informed consent template, VR suitability screening checklist, and plain-language VR handout are free to download and adapt.
• Therapy withVR is not a CE provider. Many of the clinicians who use it count their time toward CE activities run through ASHA-approved providers (journal clubs, case-consultation groups, supervisor-led training). We can support this with evidence summaries and session logs on request.

External resources for SLPs working with people who stutter

Three places I would point a colleague to, beyond what is on this site:

• Stuttering Therapy Resources (STR) - practical assessments, therapy guides, activity books, free practical-tip handouts, and expert training built specifically for SLPs supporting children, teens, and adults who stutter.
• Spero Stuttering - the Ally of Stuttering^® program, peer-led intervision groups, a resource library, and community tools that connect SLPs with people who stutter and their families.
• ASHA - the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Practice portal, evidence maps, and clinical guidance across the full range of communication and swallowing work, framed around the WHO ICF model of participation and access.