Changes to Stuttering Measurement During the Lidcombe Program Treatment Process

Abstract

It is arguable that the Lidcombe Program warrants best practice status for early intervention. Meta-analysis of randomized clinical evidence shows an odds of recovery 7 to 8 times that of natural recovery. However, during recent years there have been accumulating logical, conceptual, and empirical challenges to one of the fundamental Lidcombe Program components: clinician use of percent syllable stuttered measures during the treatment process. This article outlines those challenges, with particular reference to evidence that emerged during a recent randomized controlled trial. Following deliberations by the International Lidcombe Program Trainers' Consortium and the Australian community of early stuttering intervention specialists, a decision was made to remove percent syllables stuttered as a manualized treatment component. This article explores how the Lidcombe Program treatment process now works, and the impact of this change on routine clinical practice.