Intervention with the Lidcombe Program for a bilingual school-age child who stutters in Iran

In this study, the immediate and extended effects of the Lidcombe Program were investigated for the first time in Iran. Treatment in the Lidcombe Program is carried out by the child's parent (or carer) in the child's everyday environment. The program has been shown to be effective with preschool children who stutter (i.e. younger than 6 years) and to a lesser extent with older children. PARTICIPANT AND METHOD: The participant was a bilingual (Baluchi-Persian) boy aged 8 years 11 months. Treatment was conducted in both languages. Stuttering severity was measured in Baluchi with the parental rating scale, and in Persian with percentage of syllables stuttered (%SS).

The child completed stage 1 of the program in 13 weeks. %SS was less than 1 during the last 3 clinic visits and severity ratings made by the parent indicated no stuttering (severity rating = 1) for all days of the final week. Speech recordings made beyond the clinic in both languages also indicated stuttering at below 1%SS. The child met all criteria for stage 2 in both languages, over 10 months.

This case report suggests that the Lidcombe Program could be suitable for bilingual Iranian children who stutter.