Facing the challenge of treating stuttering in the schools

There are many difficult issues facing speech-language pathologists who work with school-age children who stutter; however, the challenges are not insurmountable. Effective treatment for children who stutter is possible, even in school settings. This chapter introduces two issues of Seminars in Speech and Language aimed at helping clinicians improve their treatment of stuttering in school-age children. The first issue addresses basic aspects of evaluation and treatment, including procedures for assessing children's communication abilities, developing appropriate goals for therapy, and utilizing a number of specific treatment strategies. The second issue addresses special topics in the treatment of school-age children who stutter, including multicultural factors, concomitant disorders, and finding and using helpful resources to enhance treatment. Throughout the two issues, the authors will repeatedly emphasize that clinicians can help children who stutter become more successful communicators by drawing upon knowledge and strategies from a variety of perspectives and by taking a broad-based, comprehensive approach to understanding and treating stuttering.