Oxford Dysfluency Conference: some papers on work with young children
by Margaret Evesham

One thing that came out loud and clear was the fact that early intervention, while the brain is still developing, is critical if treatment is to have the best chance of enabling a child to become fluent.

Should we stop saying "we don't know the cause of stammering"? Anne Smith of Purdue University suggested we know a great deal about the factors that cause stammering, and proposed a short statement to capture our knowledge. This includes, for example, the importance of how the child's developing neural circuits for speech are being wired. See Anne's comments...

Anne Smith of Purdue University, Indiana, USA gave an interesting presentation of the differences in the motor activity of dysfluent and fluent children. For example in clapping to a regular rhythm, a group of dysfluent children had greater variations in intervals between claps; and when repeating words and phrases the lip movement patterns of some dysfluent children were well outside normal limits. The study will follow the children over a number of years and hopes to discover indicators of which children are most at risk of persistent stammering. Anne said that children need experience of fluent speech while they are learning if they are to be helped to form the necessary neural connection.

It is surprising to note that a modified form of syllable timed speech is on its way back as treatment for under 5s and 5 to 8 year old children (the Westmead Program).

There were several papers presented on the Lidcombe Programme (LP). Rosemarie Hayhow presented some results of her research into parents' experiences of the LP. Parents play a large part by implementing the treatment at home, and previous research has shown it to be effective for eliminating stuttering in children under the age of 6 years. Rosemarie's study provides some important insights into parents' perspectives and how important it is to take these into account when carrying out the LP. Otherwise the impact of the treatment may be reduced.

Mark Onslow of the University of Sydney and author of the LP reported on a collaborative study between the Universities in Sydney and Washington (and may include clinics in Britain) to see how successful is the LP in the 'real world' Can it be as successful in a busy clinic with many more limitations than in the clinical trials which have so far been used for research into the treatment? Watch this space!

Also Mark Onslow and his team found that in the whole population of Victoria 8.5% of children were assessed by professionals as beginning to stutter by 3 years of age - many more than the 5% we have assumed previously. So far they have found no significant predictors of onset. Life style factors made no difference to onset.

Margaret Evesham is BSA's Pre-School Campaign Co-ordinator.

From the Autumn 2008 edition of Speaking Out, page 15.