Language & Cognition seminar - Åse Sjøstrand

The Effective Stuttering project- developing treatment for stuttering in preschool aged children

Childhood stuttering is common; affecting 1 in 10 children by 4 years of age. While many children recover naturally from stuttering, up to one third of children will develop persistent stuttering that continues throughout life. As there is currently no way of predicting who will recover and who will persist, effective early treatment is essential to reduce the likelihood of a child developing persistent stuttering.

The Effective Stuttering Treatment (EST) project is an international research project in three parts. Firstly, a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing effect studies on treatment for stuttering in preschool aged children, as well as a systematic review of implementation quality in treatment studies has been carried out. In addition, a survey assessing the knowledge about stuttering and treatment among preschool teachers, public health nurses and speech and language therapists. Using a more qualitative approach, a qualitative content analysis of the different protocols, treatment handbooks and manuals that exist for treatments for stuttering in preschool aged children was conducted. These studies will inform the development of a new simplified treatment for stuttering as well as the design of the second part of the project, a multiple single case study, and subsequently the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Norway, comparing intervention for stuttering to no intervention, in preschool aged children. The last step in the EST project is to implement effective treatment among local healthcare professionals and speech and language therapists.

In this presentation, PhD candidate in the EST project, Åse Sjøstrand will present some of the work that builds the first part of the project, focusing on how the different studies will inform the development of a treatment for preschool aged children, and a multiple single case study.