TY - JOUR
T1 - Clinicians' management of young children with co-occurring stuttering and speech sound disorder
AU - Unicomb, Rachael
AU - Hewat, Sally
AU - Spencer, Elizabeth
AU - Harrison, Elisabeth
PY - 2013/8
Y1 - 2013/8
N2 - Speech sound disorders reportedly co-occur in young children who stutter at a substantial rate. Despite this, there is a paucity of scientific research available to support a treatment approach when these disorders co-exist. Similarly, little is known about how clinicians are currently working with this caseload given that best practice for the treatment of both disorders in isolation has evolved in recent years. This study used a qualitative approach to explore current clinical management and rationales when working with children who have co-occurring stuttering and speech sound disorder. Thirteen participant SLPs engaged in semi-structured telephone interviews. Interview data were analysed based on principles derived from grounded theory. Several themes were identified including multi-faceted assessment, workplace challenges, weighing-up the evidence, and direct intervention. The core theme, clinical reasoning, highlighted the participants' main concern, that not enough is known about this caseload on which to base decisions about intervention. There was consensus that little is available in the research literature to guide decisions relating to service delivery. These findings highlight the need for further research to provide evidence-based guidelines for clinical practice with this caseload.
AB - Speech sound disorders reportedly co-occur in young children who stutter at a substantial rate. Despite this, there is a paucity of scientific research available to support a treatment approach when these disorders co-exist. Similarly, little is known about how clinicians are currently working with this caseload given that best practice for the treatment of both disorders in isolation has evolved in recent years. This study used a qualitative approach to explore current clinical management and rationales when working with children who have co-occurring stuttering and speech sound disorder. Thirteen participant SLPs engaged in semi-structured telephone interviews. Interview data were analysed based on principles derived from grounded theory. Several themes were identified including multi-faceted assessment, workplace challenges, weighing-up the evidence, and direct intervention. The core theme, clinical reasoning, highlighted the participants' main concern, that not enough is known about this caseload on which to base decisions about intervention. There was consensus that little is available in the research literature to guide decisions relating to service delivery. These findings highlight the need for further research to provide evidence-based guidelines for clinical practice with this caseload.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84880104759&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3109/17549507.2013.783111
DO - 10.3109/17549507.2013.783111
M3 - Article
C2 - 23691981
AN - SCOPUS:84880104759
VL - 15
SP - 441
EP - 452
JO - International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
JF - International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
SN - 1754-9515
IS - 4
ER -