Interview with Mark Robinson: Commonwealth Oral History Project

Interview with Mark Robinson, conducted 17 July 2013 and 8 August 2013 as part of the Commonwealth Oral History Project. The project aims to produce a unique digital research resource on the oral history of the Commonwealth since 1965 through sixty oral history interviews with leading figures in the recent history of the organisation. It will provide an essential research tool for anyone investigating the history of the Commonwealth and will serve to promote interest in and understanding of the organisation. Biography: Robinson, Mark. 1946- . Born in Bristol, England. Educated at the University of Oxford. Special Assistant, United Nations Emergency Relief Operation to Bangladesh. Served the United Nations, New York, in the Office of the Under-Secretary General and the Office of the Secretary General (Kurt Waldheim). Assistant Director, Office of the Commonwealth Secretary General (Sir Shridath Ramphal), 1977-83. Conservative Member of Parliament for Newport West, 1983-87, and Somerton and Frome, 1992-97. Appointed to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the government of Margaret Thatcher. Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Overseas Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary. Member of the Board, Commonwealth Development Corporation, 1988-92. Chair, Commonwealth Consortium for Education

Lidcombe Program telehealth treatment for children 6–12 years of age: A Phase II trial

Background: For children older than 6 years who stutter, there is a gap in clinical research. This is an issue for speech-language pathologists because the tractability of stuttering decreases and the risk of long-term psychological consequences increase with age. Purpose: To report a Phase II trial of a telehealth version of the Lidcombe Program with school-age children. Methods: Participants were 37 children who stuttered, 6–12 years of age, from Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Parents were trained by video telehealth how to deliver the Lidcombe Program to their child. Primary and secondary outcomes were stuttering severity and psychosocial functioning measured pre-treatment and at 6 months and 12 months after starting treatment. Parents submitted two 10-minute recordings of their child speaking in conversation, and three measures of anxiety, impact of stuttering, and communication attitude. Results: Six months after starting treatment, seven children (18.9%) attained Lidcombe Program Stage 2 criteria, 25 children (67.6%) showed a partial response to treatment, and five children (13.5%) showed no response. By 12 months, 12 children (32.4%) had reached Stage 2 criteria. Psychosocial improvements were observed 6 and 12 months after starting treatment. Conclusions: The Lidcombe Program may eliminate or nearly eliminate stuttering for about one third of children 6–12 years of age. Randomized controlled trials with this age group involving the Lidcombe Program are warranted. In the interim, the Lidcombe Program is a clinical option clinicians can implement with this age group to reduce stuttering and its psychosocial impacts.</p

Checklist of parent Lidcombe Program administration

This article outlines the development of a checklist to document parent and child behaviours when implementing Lidcombe Program treatment during structured conversations. We present item development and reliability testing and instructions for use by speech pathologists. Finally, we present two case studies to demonstrate use of the checklist to aid clinical decision-making during Lidcombe Program treatment

Interview with Mark Chona: Commonwealth Oral History Project

Interview with Mark Chona, conducted 11th August 2015 in Lusaka as part of the Commonwealth Oral History Project. The project aims to produce a unique digital research resource on the oral history of the Commonwealth since 1965 through sixty oral history interviews with leading figures in the recent history of the organisation. It will provide an essential research tool for anyone investigating the history of the Commonwealth and will serve to promote interest in and understanding of the organisation. Biography: Chona, Mark, 1935-. Educated at University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now University of Zimbabwe), American University and University of Cambridge. Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zambia, 1965-68. Special Advisor for Political Affairs to President Kenneth Kaunda, 1968-80. Chairperson of the Task Force on Corruption 2003-05. NOTE: The respondent stipulates that, before 2026, researchers should seek permission from him before citing this interview in their wor

A three-arm randomized controlled trial of Lidcombe Program and Westmead Program early stuttering interventions

Purpose: To compare two experimental Westmead Program treatments with a control Lidcombe Program treatment for early stuttering. Method: The design was a three-arm randomized controlled trial with blinded outcome assessments 9 months post-randomization. Participants were 91 pre-school children. Results: There was no evidence of difference in percentage syllables stuttered at 9 months among groups. Dropout rates were substantive and may have been connected with novel aspects of the trial design: the use of community clinicians, no exclusion criteria, and randomization of children younger than 3 years of age. Conclusion: The substantive dropout rate for all three arms in this trial means that any conclusions about the 9-month stuttering outcomes must be regarded as tentative. However, continued development of the Westmead Program is warranted, and we are currently constructing an internet version

Natural History of Stuttering to 4 Years of Age: A Prospective Community-Based Study

These findings from a community-ascertained cohort refute long-held views suggesting that developmental stuttering is associated with a range of poorer outcomes. If anything, the reverse was true, with stuttering predicting subsequently better language,nonverbal skills, and psychosocial health-related quality of life at 4 years of age.Future research with this cohort will support a more complete longitudinal understanding of when and in whom recovery occurs. Current best practice recommends waiting for 12 monthsbefore commencing treatment, unlessthe child is distressed, there is parental concern, or the child becomes reluctant to communicate. It may be that for many children treatment could be deferred even longer. Treatment is efficacious15 but is both intensive (median of 15.4o ne-hour clinical sessions followedby 10 one-hour clinical maintenance sessions) and expensive; this "watchful waiting" recommendation would therefore help target allocation of scarce resources to the small number of children who do not resolve and experience adverse outcomes, secure in the knowledge that delaying treatment by a year or more has been shown not to compromise treatment efficac

The Lidcombe Program for preschool children who stutter

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