During the second week of National Speech-Language-Hearing Month, and in recognition of Stuttering Awareness Week, we’re joining ASHA in focusing on people who stutter. The articles featured below can help speech-language pathologists (SLPs) use the latest evidence-based research when working with people who stutter.
The Latest on Stuttering Treatments
Effectiveness of Stuttering Modification Treatment in School-Age Children Who Stutter: A Randomized Clinical Trial: Most available stuttering research provides clinicians with evidence on treatment for preschool-aged children and adults, with little review of the effectiveness of stuttering treatment in children ages 7–11. This article examines the effectiveness of Kinder Dürfen Stottern, a German stuttering modification therapy used in schools.
What Do Adults Who Stutter Think About the Nature of Stuttering Treatment? SLPs have a variety of treatment strategies and mechanisms at their disposal when working with individuals who stutter. Here, adults who stutter offered their opinions on aspects of stuttering treatments that they found most helpful and important, highlighting the importance of individualized treatment for people who stutter.
Relationships Between Psychological Distress and Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Experiences of Stuttering: Although many studies have found that people who stutter are vulnerable to psychological distress, the prevalence of these symptoms and their relationship to stuttering is not fully understood. The authors examined the affective, behavioral, and cognitive experiences of stuttering—in an effort to focus treatment on alleviating these symptoms in therapy.
Other Issues in Fluency
Designing a Module on Stuttering and Cluttering: A Guide for Speech-Language Pathology Educators: New SLPs may not feel properly prepared to work with patients who stutter or clutter. Learn about the designing of a module on stuttering and cluttering that can be incorporated into undergraduate speech-language pathology courses.
Stuttering-Like Dysfluencies as a Consequence of Long COVID-19: This article highlights two patients who presented with neurogenic stuttering-like disfluencies alongside other symptoms of long COVID after being infected with COVID-19. Authors hypothesize on the nature of possible broader neurogenic consequences of COVID that ASHA members may find themselves working with in the future.
Word-Final Disfluency: Clinical Data From a Single Therapy Protocol: Word-final disfluency may co-occur with stuttering, although it’s most frequently studied in people with autism. A single therapy protocol described in this article was able to reduce or completely eliminate word-final disfluency in 9 weeks, on average.
Stuttering Resources From ASHA
In addition to the Practice Portal page, ASHA is also posting resources online for National Speech-Language-Hearing Month (NSLHM).Be sure to check out the NSLHM home page for more stuttering resources that you can share.
If you’re interested in further exploring stuttering resources, be sure to check out Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups! Special Interest Group 4, Fluency and Fluency Disorders, has published hundreds of clinically relevant articles on fluency—including a recent forum highlighting case studies in fluency. Access to Perspectives is a benefit of affiliation with one of ASHA’s 20 Special Interest Groups.
This week, this month, and beyond, ASHA works to fight stigmas around communication disorders, including those that prevent people from reaching out to get the help they need. ASHA members make a difference in the lives of people with communication disorders, including those who stutter, every day!
