Investigating the involvement of partners in stuttering therapy

The Lidcombe Program is a well-researched behavioural treatment for stuttering in young children in which parents praise their child's fluent speech and occasionally correct stuttering in the child's everyday environment. One of the important features of the Lidcombe Program is that the treatment is delivered where the problem occurs – in everyday speaking situations – rather than in the clinic. This paper describes the application of the Lidcombe Program model to adults. Five adults who stutter and a significant other person in their lives participated in, the study. Within-clinic and beyond-clinic measures of stuttering for the five subjects indicate that this model has potential as a new way of treating stuttering in adults, at least for some clients.