A Clinical Trial of an Operant Treatment for School-Age Children Who Stutter

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effectiveness of a nonprogrammed, operant treatment for school-age children who stutter. The treatment was administered by clinicians and parents to 11 children between the ages of 7 and 12 years. A median of 12 one-hour treatment sessions was required to achieve less than 1.5% syllables stuttered during within-clinic and beyond-clinic speaking situations. The children’s speech was assessed in three everyday speaking situations over a 12-month post-treatment period. All children maintained decreased stuttering rates at 12 months post-treatment. In addition, surveys found that parents were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their children’s speech post-treatment. These results suggest that a nonprogrammed operant treatment for stuttering may be effective with school-age children who stutter.