Recent developments regarding severity of stuttering in preschool children

ABSTRACT

During the past years, noticeable changes have occured in stuttering theory, research and clinical aspects reflecting changes in aetiology, epidemiology and treatement. In research, there has been considerable shift from focus on adults to young children who stutter. In the clinical domain, treatment for preschool age children has shifted from indirect modes [e. g. modifying children's home environment] to include direct speech modification. This study aimed at evaluating the degree of severity of stuttering in preschool children. The severity of 200 preschool age children with stuttering is detected using Stuttering Severity Instrument [SSI-3]. Contrary to past information expecting high concentration of children having mild stuttering, the results show that 80% of cases are in the categories of moderate and severe stuttering