| Description |
This study examined the etiology, symptoms, and treatments of stuttering. Its main purpose was to report a series of treatment outcome measures of the 2018 University of Utah Intensive Stuttering Clinic (ISC). The clinic implemented both stuttering management treatment (behaviors and emotions related to stuttering) and speech restructuring treatment techniques (fluency enhancing speech motor skills). Six clients, aged 17 to 64, participated in the 10-day clinic and were assessed before and after in terms of both speech and its associated behaviors. Clinical outcome results were described, reported, and ranked in order of treatment outcome effect size. Effect sizes are one method of calculating the amount of change in variables before and after treatment; therefore, a larger effect size indicates a greater magnitude of change while a smaller effect size indicates a smaller change in response to treatment (Dolan, Parker & Gansneder, 2005). The treatment outcome effect sizes are as follows: 0.76 - Avoidance, as measured by the Perceptions of Stuttering Inventory (PSI; Woolf, 1967); 0.61 - Part II of the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering (OASES; Yaruss & Quesal, 2010); 0.59 - OASES overall; 0.55 - OASES Part I; 0.52 - Percentage of words stuttered while reading; 0.51 - OASES Part IV; 0.49 - Expectancy, as measured by the PSI; 0.48 - Struggle as measured by the PSI; 0.44 - Self-rating of severity; 0.38 - Overall scores of the Stuttering Severity Instrument-3 (SSI- 3; Riley, 1994); 0.33 - Fear and anxiety as measured by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS; Liebowitz, 1987); 0.32 - Avoidance as measured by the LSAS; 0.30 - Percentage of words stuttered during monologue; 0.21 - Part III of OASES; 0.08 - Locus of Control of Behavior Scale (LCB; Craig, Franklin, & Andrews, 1984); and 0.06 - Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck & Steer, 1993). Discussion focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of an intensive, comprehensive, stuttering clinic. The relative contributions of overt stuttering measures, client-perceived stuttering measures, and measures of affective functioning are detailed. |
