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.

How Can We Overcome the Challenges of Providing School-Based Fluency Services?

Providing speech and language services in the school setting can be challenging, especially for complex problems such as stuttering and other fluency disorders. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) feel less comfortable working with students who have fluency disorders, which makes problem solving around delivering these services even more difficult. The purpose of this article is to identify three categories of challenges school-based therapists may face when evaluating and treating this population. The challenges discussed in this article are drawn from our literature, interviews with several practicing therapists, and the authors' experiences providing assessment and therapy to school-age children, as well as consultations and in-services for school-based SLPs. We provide suggestions for facilitating positive change across these challenges.

The role of stuttering specialists in the school setting.

The role of the fluency specialist, including how the school-based speech-language pathologist (SLP) and specialist can coordinate effective service for children who stutter is the primary focus of this article. The fluency specialist, who is either an employee of the school district or an outside consultant, addresses the needs of a particular child and/or clinician. Basic challenges of providing fluency intervention in a school setting and locating a fluency specialist with whom to work are addressed. The optimal skills that fluency specialists need to demonstrate are addressed in relation to their ability to assist professionals in their treatment of a stuttering disorder. To further clarify the coordination process between the fluency specialist and the school-based SLP, three models of collaboration are elaborated, all in pursuit of providing the highest quality of service possible for children who stutter in the school setting.