Contemporary issues with stuttering: The Fourth Croatia Stuttering Symposium.
Robyn Lowe, Suzana Jelčić Jakšić, Mark Onslow, Sue O'Brian, Martine Vanryckeghem, Sharon Millard, Elaine Kelman, Susan Block, Marie-Christine Franken, Sabine Van Eerdenbrugh, Ross Menzies, Rosalee Shenker, Courtney Byrd, Hans-Georg Bosshardt, Francesca Del Gado, Valerie Lim
Author Information
Robyn Lowe: University of Technology Sydney, Australian Stuttering Research Centre, NSW, Australia.
Suzana Jelčić Jakšić: Zagreb Children's Hospital, Pediatric Clinic, Croatia.
Mark Onslow: University of Technology Sydney, Australian Stuttering Research Centre, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: Mark.Onslow@uts.edu.au.
Sue O'Brian: University of Technology Sydney, Australian Stuttering Research Centre, NSW, Australia.
Martine Vanryckeghem: University of Central Florida, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, USA.
Sharon Millard: The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering, London, UK.
Elaine Kelman: The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering, London, UK.
Susan Block: La Trobe University, Discipline of Speech Pathology, College of Science, Health & Engineering, VIC, Australia.
Marie-Christine Franken: Erasmus University Medical Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Sabine Van Eerdenbrugh: Thomas More College of Applied Sciences, Speech & Language Therapy & Audiology, Antwerp, Belgium.
Ross Menzies: University of Technology Sydney, Australian Stuttering Research Centre, NSW, Australia.
Rosalee Shenker: Montreal Fluency Center, Montreal, Canada.
Courtney Byrd: Michael and Tami Lang Stuttering Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA.
Hans-Georg Bosshardt: Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.
Francesca Del Gado: CRC Balbuzie, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Valerie Lim: Speech and Language Therapy, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore.
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.
