Using syllable-timed speech to treat preschool children who stutter: a multiple baseline experiment.
This report presents the results of an experimental investigation of the effects of a syllable-timed speech treatment on three stuttering preschool children. Syllable-timed speech involves speaking with minimal differentiation in linguistic stress across syllables. Three children were studied in a multiple baseline across participants design, with percent syllables stuttered (%SS) as the dependent variable. In the week following the initial clinic visit, each child decreased their beyond-clinic stuttering by 40%, 49% and 32%, respectively. These reductions are only evident in the time series after the introduction of the syllable-timed speech treatment procedure. Participants required a mean of six clinic visits, of approximately 30-60 min in duration, to reach and sustain a beyond-clinic %SS below 1.0. The results suggest that clinical trials of the treatment are warranted.


OBJECTIVE
The reader will be able to summarize, discuss and evaluate: (1) The nature, impact and treatment options available for early stuttering. (2) The syllable-timed speech treatment protocol administered. (3) The advantages of syllable-timed speech treatment for early stuttering. (4) The questions that further research needs to answer about the syllable-timed speech treatment.
Trajkovski
Natasha
N
Australian Stuttering Research Centre, The University of Sydney, Australia. n.trajkovski@usyd.edu.au
Andrews
Cheryl
C
Onslow
Mark
M
Packman
Ann
A
O'Brian
Sue
S
Menzies
Ross
R
D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013060:Speech; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013070:Speech Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D013342:Stuttering / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome