Treating children with co-occurring stuttering and speech sound disorder: a long-term follow up study

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To conduct long-term follow-up assessment on children who had previously undergone concurrent, direct treatment for co-occurring stuttering and speech sound disorder.

Methods: Four children (6;10–7;7 years) were followed-up approximately 40 months after commencing Stage 1 of the Lidcombe Program. The primary outcome for stuttering, percentage of syllables stuttered, was assessed on within – and beyond-clinic samples. Percentage of consonants correct, the primary speech outcome, was gathered on single-word and connected-speech samples. Primary outcomes were analysed for statistically significant change and to assess stability of treatment gains. Additionally, formal assessment of phonological awareness ability was conducted.

Results: At long-term follow-up, 2 participants had experienced relapse of stuttering. Three of the four children were within age-expected norms for percentage of consonants correct, while one participant was rated at a mild-moderate severity level on this measure. All four children had assessment scores that were within normal limits for phonological awareness.

Conclusion: Children with co-occurring stuttering and speech sound disorder may be treated concurrently using direct therapy approaches in the short-term, however may be more prone to relapse across both disorders. For this caseload of children, a longer maintenance period is recommended, with regular assessments being undertaken to ensure stability of treatment gains in the long-term.

KEYWORDS:

• Stuttering
• speech sound disorder
• Lidcombe Program
• long-term follow up
• concurrent treatment

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a University of Newcastle Faculty of Education and Arts New Staff Grant. The original research trial formed part of the first author’s doctoral thesis and was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award, and in-part by a Speech Pathology Australia Research Higher Degree student grant. The research team acknowledges the children and families involved in this research, and the speech pathologist who rated samples for reliability purposes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and not an official position of any institution or funder.

Notes

1 The original study utilised an earlier version of the treatment manual. A current version of the manual (Onslow et al., 2019) is available for download from https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/2019-10/March%202019%20Lidcombe%20Program%20Treatment%20Guide.pdf

2 In Australia, formal primary schooling commences with children enrolling in Kindergarten (at around 5 years of age), followed by Years 1 through 6.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a University of Newcastle, Australia, Faculty of Education and Arts New Staff Grant. The original research trial formed part of the first author’s doctoral thesis and was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award, and in-part by a Speech Pathology Australia Research Higher Degree student grant. The research team acknowledges the children and families involved in this research, and the speech pathologist who rated samples for reliability purposes.