Purpose: Best practice for developmental stuttering remains a topic of debate. In the clinical forum following the introduction, four fluency experts balance the evidence and expertise to describe their approach to assessment and treatment.

The Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (stuttering) reflects a marked impairment in speech fluency that is not attributable to stroke or another medical condition, and developmental or mental disorder (Birstein, 2015). This article examines Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering): An interruption in the flow of speaking. The focus is on the…

The Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (stuttering) reflects a marked impairment in speech fluency that is not attributable to stroke or another medical condition, and developmental or mental disorder (Birstein, 2015). This article examines Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering): An interruption in the flow of speaking. The focus is on the…

Children who stutter may experience challenges in their social and emotional development that can lead to academic struggles in school. School counselors and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are uniquely positioned to collaborate on school-based interventions to help children who stutter. We review common elements of stuttering in children and…

Young children develop the skills necessary for communication in infancy. Interactions with family members and other caregivers nurture and support those skills. Spoken (expressive) language progresses rapidly after a child's first word. A typical 2-year-old has an expressive vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words. Around this time, as they…

The case of a 15-year-old stutterer is presented to illustrate A. Lazarus's multimodal behavior therapy model, proposed to integrate various procedures. A combination of role playing, metronome use, biofeedback training, and assertion training was used. (CL)

Presents a rationale and methodology for a self-adjusting "fluency sensitive" approach to working with children who exhibit overt speech-fluency interruptions and a minimal amount of avoidance behavior. The approach emphasizes repeated experiences of volitional increases and decreases in loudness and pauses. Case examples demonstrate how several…

Children who stammer are often negatively stereotyped by other children and by teachers. They can also be easily identified as targets for teasing and bullying by peers. This may adversely affect their interaction levels in school and lower their self-esteem. This article suggests an approach aimed at reducing the development of adverse attitudes…

An approach to enlisting the involvement of school personnel in fluency assessment and treatment programs is described. The approach involves observations of students in a variety of academic and social situations and information exchange meetings between clinician and school personnel. A classroom-based fluency program using collaborative service…

Disfluencies in the verbal and signed language of a 10-year-old moderately mentally retarded boy were analyzed. Discussion addresses implications for the accurate characterization of stuttering in manual communication and appropriate approaches to management in such cases. (DB)

This article describes a cognitive-behavioral treatment package for relapse management in adolescents who stutter. The package includes game-based training techniques in problem solving, communication skills, and assertiveness; coping responses for stuttering episodes; and realistic expectations for fluency and relapse. Follow-up results with…