Multidimensional Individualized Stuttering Therapy (MIST): An Effective Approach for People Who Stutter.

The main purpose of this chapter is to present an approach which emphasizes individual-centered care and personal values in daily life settings. This approach is termed Multidimensional Individualized Stuttering Therapy, with the acronym MIST. The therapy format in MIST is individual and holistic, and it is grounded in practice-based evidence. Based on personal feedback from people who stutter (PWS), MIST was developed and systematized by Sønsterud (Sønsterud, 2020; Sønsterud, Halvorsen, Feragen, Kirmess, & Ward, 2020)

Multidimensional Individualized Stuttering Therapy (MIST) : An Effective Approach for People Who Stutter.

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The Gap betweeen Research and Clinical Practice : Towards an Integrated Speech-Language Therapy

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Dialogue without barriers. A comprehensive approach to dealing with stuttering

The book Dialogue without barriers: A comprehensive approach to dealing with stuttering is the result of Norwegian-Polish cooperation undertaken in the project LOGOLab – Dialogue without barriers. Three partners have been involved in the production of this book, namely, the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, the UiT Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, and the Agere Aude Foundation for Knowledge and Social Dialogue. The project was implemented under the Education Program financed by the EEA Grants (EEA / 19 / K1 / D1 / W / 0031). The EEA Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway towards a green, competitive, and inclusive Europe. The most important goal of the LOGOLab project was to raise the standards of speech-language therapy in stuttering by incorporating the principles of Evidence-based practice, taking into account the assumptions of inclusive education and community-based model of intervention. An essential strategy for achieving this goal has become the dissemination of reliable and up-to-date knowledge about stuttering, and the development of appropriate social attitudes towards stuttering. The improvement of the quality of academic education for speech-language therapy students and of vocational training for certified speech-language therapists should also be mentioned. An additional aim was to provide reliable information for leaders of the self-help movement, who support people with stuttering non-institutionally

The Gap betweeen Research and Clinical Practice: Towards an Integrated Speech-Language Therapy

The gap between research and clinical practice is one of the main challenges in speech-language therapy. There have been many compelling reasons for this gap: lack of information exchange and dialogue between researchers and clinicians; the specific ways in which scientific inquiry has been conducted and scientific knowledge presented; lack of access to scientific journals; and sometimes, lack of interest in this knowledge on the part of clinicians themselves. The way knowledge is produced, and by whom, determines the specific nature of that knowledge, and the appropriateness and value of forms of knowledge must be established and re-established in any context of use, including that of theoretical discussions. Both research and practice are ongoing conversations. The continuous establishment (or not) of evidentiality of specific knowledge and forms of knowledge production should be facets of practice and research. This is a more realistic, and reality-based, way to cast the discussion than is the notion of achieving a fixed canon of evidence on which to base practice

Covert and overt stuttering: Concepts and comparative findings

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Osobista ocena polskich, słowackich i amerykańskich dzieci jąkających się na temat uzyskiwanego wsparcia

Limited research exists about what children who stutter perceive to be helpful and unhelpful listener supports, and no known research exists cross‑culturally. Such information is necessary to better inform clinical intervention and public attitudes at large. This study sought to address that need by measuring listener preferences among children who stutter from diverse backgrounds.One‑hundred fifty‑one children who stutter from Poland, Slovakia, and the USA completed the child version of the Personal Appraisal of Support for Stuttering. Results were examined descriptively and compared cross‑culturally.Themes pertaining to very helpful and very unhelpful supports emerged across all groups. Many items fell in the neutral range, suggesting variability among individual speakers.Based on the groups examined, children who stutter primarily want listeners to be patient, to include them, and to not laugh when they are speaking. Other nuanced preferences underscore the importance of asking individuals about what they perceive to be helpful and unhelpful. Results of this study informed a listener guideline statement and an open‑access informational handout about how to be most supportive of children who stutter.Wyników badań na temat tego, co dzieci, które się jąkają, postrzegają jako wsparcie, a co jako brak wsparcia ze strony słuchacza jest niewiele. Co więcej, do tej pory nie prowadzono badań międzykulturowych w tym zakresie. Takie dane są potrzebne, aby stosować odpowiednie formy interwencji logopedycznej oraz odpowiednio edukować społeczeństwo. Badanie opisywane w artykule miało na celu wypełnienie tej luki poprzez dokonanie oceny preferencji słuchaczy. Ankietowanymi były dzieci, które się jąkają, pochodzące z różnych środowisk.W badaniu wzięło udział 151 dzieci jąkających się z Polski, Słowacji i USA, które wypełniły dziecięcą wersję kwestionariusza Indywidualna Ocena Wsparcia w Przypadku Jąkania (The Personal Appraisal of Support for Stuttering). Wyniki tego badania zostały przeanalizowane w sposób opisowy i porównane międzykulturowo.We wszystkich grupach pojawiły się tematy dotyczące tego, co wpiera i co nie pomaga w kontaktach interpersonalnych. Wiele pozycji mieściło się w przedziale neutralnym, co sugeruje zmienność wśród poszczególnych respondentów.Dane uzyskane w badanych grupach wykazały, że dzieci jąkające się przede wszystkim chcą, aby słuchacze byli cierpliwi, aby ich nie wykluczali i nie wyśmiewali się z nich, gdy z nimi rozmawiają. Inne preferencje podkreślają znaczenie pytania osób jąkających się o to, co postrzegają jako pomocne, a co jako niewspierające. Do wyników tego badania dołączono także wytyczne dla słuchaczy oraz ogólnodostępną ulotkę informacyjną o tym, jak najlepiej wspierać jąkające się dzieci

What do people search for in stuttering therapy: personal goal-setting as a gold standard?

Purpose Stuttering affects people in individual ways, and there are multiple factors which may influence a person’s goals when seeking therapy. Even though there is a common consensus that speech-language pathologists should discuss the individual’s goals and expectations for stuttering therapy and outcomes, few studies have systematically investigated this issue. The aims of the present study were to investigate individual motivations and goal-setting related factors in stuttering therapy. The associations between self-reported impact of stuttering and the participants’ perceptions of stuttering interference in communication, speaking abilities, and relationships with other people were also investigated. Method This study is part of a wider-ranging treatment study of individualized stuttering management tailored to the participants’ personal goals and preferences. A mixed method, multiple single-case design was used to address the research questions. Twenty-one adults, age 21-61 years, took part in a pretherapy interview, which also included two quantitative measures: the Client Preferences for Stuttering Therapy-Extended version (CPST-E) and the Overall Assessment of Speakers’ Experience of Stuttering-Adult version (OASES-A). Findings from the study sample was compared with a Norwegian reference group, in order to check for the representativeness of the study sample. Results Quantitative data showed that most participants wanted to focus on both physical and psychological aspects of therapy, and that 95% considered ‘to gain a sense of control over the stuttering’ as important. Participants’ perspectives on their speaking ability and stuttering interference in communication were identified as central factors, particularly in social and professional settings. These outcomes aligned well with the finding of avoidance behaviors, such as avoiding words and speaking situations. Qualitative data identified four main areas that the participants wanted to improve: speech fluency, emotional functioning, activity and participation, and understanding of their stuttering. Conclusion The study confirms that multiple and individual factors may influence the person’s goals for therapy. Goals were mainly anchored in participants’ wish of better coping in real world settings. A high degree of avoidance behavior was reported, suggesting that anxiety, and in particular linguistic-related anxiety needs to be taken into account when addressing social anxiety in fluency disorders

Public attitudes toward stuttering in Europe: within-country and between-country comparisons

Introduction: Epidemiological research methods have been shown to be useful in determining factors that might predict commonly reported negative public attitudes toward stuttering. Previous research has suggested that stuttering attitudes of respondents from North America and Europe (i.e., “The West”), though characterized by stereotypes and potential stigma, are more positive than those from several other regions of the world. This inference assumes that public attitudes within various regions characterized by “The West” are similar. Purpose: This study aimed to determine the extent to which public stuttering attitudes are similar or different both within regions of three different European countries and between or among five different European countries or similar geographic areas. It also aimed to compare these European attitudes to attitudes from 135 samples around the world using a standard measure. Material and methods: Using convenience sampling, 1111 adult respondents from eight different investigations completed the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) in the dominant language of each country or area. In Study I, the authors compared attitudes within three different regions of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Italy, and Norway. In Study II, the authors compared attitudes between combined samples from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Italy, and Norway (with additional respondents from Sweden), and two other samples, one from Germany and the other from Ireland and England. Results: Attitudes of adults from the three samples within Bosnia & Herzegovina, Italy, and Norway were remarkably similar. By contrast, attitudes between the five different countries or area were quite dramatically different. Demographic variables on the POSHA-S did not predict the rank order of these between-country/area differences. Compared to the POSHA-S worldwide database, European attitudes ranged from less positive than average (i.e., Italians) to more positive than average (i.e., Norwegians and Swedes). Conclusion: Factors related to national identity appear to play a significant role in differences in public attitudes in Europe and should be explored in future research

Co-construction of turns at talk: Active listening or disruptions in conversation with persons who stutter?

The present study applies conversation analysis in order to describe the form and function of co-constructed turns in conversations involving one or more persons who stutter. Coconstructed turns are turns at talk that are produced by more than one speaker in such a way that the turn is initiated by one speaker and completed by another. Examples in the data are classified according to an existing taxonomy distinguishing between slot fillers, extensions and completions. All these types are found in our data, albeit to different extents. External as well as internal reasons for this distributional variation are discussed. The main aim of the study is to illustrate the need for qualitative, context-sensitive approaches to research on verbal interaction in the field of fluency disorders and to focus on some clinical implications of such research findings