Direct Early Intervention with Stuttering

Some Preliminary Data

¹ Cumberland College of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
² Stuttering Unit, Lidcombe Hospital/Cumberland College, Sydney, Australia

Many clinicians recognize a need for direct intervention with cases of early stuttering. However, this recognition is not supported by adequate empirical information about how such cases should be managed. One possibility is that early stuttering might be controllable by parent-administered, operant, verbal stimulation procedures. The purpose of this paper is to present preliminary data that depict the results of such an intervention procedure with four cases of early stuttering. Speech measures were gathered in a variety of speaking situations, within and beyond the clinic, over a 2-month pretreatment period and a 9-month posttreatment period. Results showed that the 4 subjects achieved reductions in stuttering comparable to those reported for adult treatment programs. However, the present results were obtained in far fewer clinical hours than normally needed in the treatment for older subjects. The treatment times in the present study also compare favorably to those published in other reports of operant intervention procedures with children. These findings suggest that cases of early stuttering might be managed effectively by parents, with limited expenditure of clinical time. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the development of early intervention programs that are more efficient and effective than existing intervention procedures for older clients.

Key Words: stuttering • incipient • intervention • direct

Submitted on April 11, 1989
Accepted on September 13, 1989

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Miller and B. Guitar Long-Term Outcome of the Lidcombe Program for Early Stuttering Intervention Am J Speech Lang Pathol, February 1, 2009; 18(1): 42 - 49. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. H. Davidow, A. K. Bothe, R. D. Andreatta, and J. Ye Measurement of Phonated Intervals During Four Fluency-Inducing Conditions J Speech Lang Hear Res, February 1, 2009; 52(1): 188 - 205. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Onslow, M. Jones, S. O'Brian, R. Menzies, and A. Packman Defining, Identifying, and Evaluating Clinical Trials of Stuttering Treatments: A Tutorial for Clinicians Am J Speech Lang Pathol, November 1, 2008; 17(4): 401 - 415. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Lewis, A. Packman, M. Onslow, J. M. Simpson, and M. Jones A Phase II Trial of Telehealth Delivery of the Lidcombe Program of Early Stuttering Intervention Am J Speech Lang Pathol, May 1, 2008; 17(2): 139 - 149. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. K. Bothe, J. H. Davidow, R. E. Bramlett, and R. J. Ingham Stuttering treatment research 1970-2005: I. Systematic review incorporating trial quality assessment of behavioral, cognitive, and related approaches. Am J Speech Lang Pathol, November 1, 2006; 15(4): 321 - 341. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. S. Yaruss, C. Coleman, and D. Hammer Treating preschool children who stutter: description and preliminary evaluation of a family-focused treatment approach. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch, April 1, 2006; 37(2): 118 - 136. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Sawyer and E. Yairi The effect of sample size on the assessment of stuttering severity. Am J Speech Lang Pathol, February 1, 2006; 15(1): 36 - 44. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Jones, M. Onslow, A. Packman, S. Williams, T. Ormond, I. Schwarz, and V. Gebski Randomised controlled trial of the Lidcombe programme of early stuttering intervention BMJ, September 24, 2005; 331(7518): 659. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Onslow, R. G. Menzies, and A. Packman An Operant Intervention for Early Stuttering: The Development of the Lidcombe Program Behav Modif, January 1, 2001; 25(1): 116 - 139. [Abstract] [PDF]