The Fifth Croatia Stuttering Symposium: Part I. Treatments for early stuttering.

PURPOSE: The Fifth Croatia Stuttering Symposium in 2022 continued the Fourth Croatia Stuttering Symposium 2019 theme of the connection between research and clinical practice. At the 2022 Symposium, there were 145 delegates from 21 countries. This paper documents the contents of the first of three Symposium modules. METHODS: The module topic was that three treatments for early childhood stuttering are supported by randomized controlled trial evidence. A clinical situation was considered where a parent of a 3-year-old child asked what results to expect of stuttering treatment. RESULTS: A distinguished scholar presented a 5-minute video interpretation of the research concerning the randomized controlled trial evidence for the three treatments. Three master clinicians then each presented a 2-minute video demonstration of how those research findings might be applied in a clinical situation. Following that, the convenors moderated a discussion between the distinguished scholar, master clinicians, and delegates regarding the research and how it applies to clinical practice.

The Fifth Croatia Stuttering Symposium: Part II. Natural recovery from early stuttering.

PURPOSE: The Fifth Croatia Stuttering Symposium of 2022 continued the Fourth Croatia Stuttering Symposium 2019 theme of the connection between research and clinical practice. At the 2022 Symposium, there were 145 delegates from 21 countries. This paper documents the contents of the second of three Symposium modules. METHODS: The module topic was that some children with early stuttering will recover naturally. A clinical situation was considered where a parent of a 3-year-old child asked if a clinician can predict whether their child will recover from stuttering without treatment. RESULTS: A distinguished scholar presented a 5-minute video interpretation of research about this topic. Three master clinicians then each presented a 2-minute video demonstration of how that research might be applied in a clinical situation. Following that, the convenors moderated a discussion between the distinguished scholar, master clinicians, and delegates regarding the research and how it applies to clinical practice.

Contemporary issues with stuttering: The Fourth Croatia Stuttering Symposium.

PURPOSE: During the 2019 Fourth Croatia Clinical Symposium, speech-language pathologists (SLPs), scholars, and researchers from 29 countries discussed speech-language pathology and psychological practices for the management of early and persistent stuttering. This paper documents what those at the Symposium considered to be the key contemporary clinical issues for early and persistent stuttering. METHODS: The authors prepared a written record of the discussion of Symposium topics, taking care to ensure that the content of the Symposium was faithfully reproduced in written form. RESULTS: Seven contemporary issues for our field emerged from the Symposium. CONCLUSION: Effective early intervention is fundamental to proper health care for the disorder. However, as yet, there is no consensus about the timing of early intervention and how it should be managed. Currently, clinical translation is a barrier to evidence-based practice with early stuttering, and proactive strategies were suggested for junior SLPs. Apprehension emerged among some discussants that treatment of early stuttering may cause anxiety. For persistent stuttering, assessment procedures were recommended, as were strategies for dealing with childhood bullying. There was agreement that SLPs are the ideal professionals to provide basic cognitive-behavior therapy for clients with persistent stuttering. Questions were raised about our discipline standards for basic professional preparation programs for stuttering management.

The Satisfaction with Communication in Everyday Speaking Situations (SCESS) scale: An overarching outcome measure of treatment effect.

PURPOSE: The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement strongly suggests one primary outcome for clinical trials, yet the outcomes of stuttering treatments span numerous behavioral and psychosocial domains. That presents a roadblock to eventual meta-analysis of clinical trials for adults who stutter. METHOD: We propose a simple and convenient outcome measure for clinical trials of stuttering treatment for adults that spans whatever behavioral and psychosocial factors might impel clients to seek treatment: a nine-point scale of Satisfaction with Communication in Everyday Speaking Situations (SCESS). The scale consists of one question which is simple, brief, easy to administer, cost-free, and translatable into many languages. The present report develops the SCESS scale by determining its reliability, content validity, and construct validity. RESULTS: Reliability, content validity, and construct validity of the SCESS were confirmed with statistically significant and substantive correlations with speech-related and anxiety-related measures. However, the SCESS did not correlate well with percentage syllables stuttered. Three behavioral and psychosocial measures had the highest correlation with the SCESS: total Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering, self-reported stuttering severity, and Unhelpful Thoughts and Beliefs about Stuttering. CONCLUSION: The SCESS measure has potential to be applied as an overarching clinical trial outcome measure of stuttering treatment effect. This study provides some preliminary evidence for including it as a primary or secondary outcome in clinical trials of adult stuttering treatments. However, further studies are needed to establish the SCESS responsiveness to different stuttering treatments.