PCIT can reduce stuttering in preschool children with 6 sessions of clinic-based therapy and 6 weeks of parent-led, home-based therapy. The study highlights the individual response to therapy. Suggestions for future research directions are made.

No abstract

Content analysis was undertaken of the case records of 61 children who stuttered who were attending a specialist centre for children who stutter. The subjects were divided into two groups, on the basis of family history of stuttering. Positive family histories of stuttering were reported for 44 children and 17 had negative family histories. The two groups were compared in terms of gender ratios, the age of onset and the type of onset (gradual vs. sudden) of stuttering. Those with positive family histories began stuttering earlier than those with no reported family history of stuttering, though this difference was not statistically significant. The type of onset of stuttering was not related to the presence or absence of a family history of stuttering. The findings are discussed in terms of the practicability of this method of data collection.

Several therapy programs have been demonstrated to be effective in supporting the development of fluency in preschool children who stutter. However, there is increasing evidence in allied fields suggesting that a positive therapy outcome cannot be entirely attributed to the therapy program itself, but also depends on what the therapist brings to the therapeutic context. This article seeks to discuss the therapist's skills and attributes that play a part in the development of the therapeutic alliance, which underpins therapy involving parents of young children who stutter. Using a model of clinical expertise development, the article discusses the attributes and skills that are necessary for the development of expertise, along with the behavioral and cognitive changes that evolve as a therapist becomes increasingly expert at using one particular program, Palin Parent-Child Interaction Therapy.

The paper maintains that therapy for this disorder needs to account for the highly individual nature of the overt and covert dimensions of persistent stuttering and identify the formal and informal methods that measure progress and outcome. Current research and future directions will be touched on briefly.