Treatment efficacy: stuttering

The purpose of this article is to review the state of the art regarding treatment efficacy for stuttering in children, teenagers, and adults. Available evidence makes it apparent that individuals who stutter benefit from the services of speech-language pathologists, but it is also apparent that determining the outcome of stuttering treatment is neither easy nor simple. Whereas considerable research has documented the positive influence of treatment on stuttering frequency and behavior, far less attention has been paid to the effects of treatment on the daily life activities of people who stutter and their families. Although it seems reasonable to assume that ameliorating the disability of stuttering lessens the handicap of stuttering, considerably more evidence is needed to confirm this assumption. Despite such concerns, it also seems reasonable to suggest that the outcomes of treatment for many people who stutter are positive and should become increasingly so with advances in applied as well as basic research.