Parents as partners in the treatment of childhood stuttering

Speech-language pathologists involved in treating childhood stuttering have increasingly emphasized the need for parental involvement in intervention. In this article, we review prevailing theoretical models of stuttering and illustrate various ways in which these models can be used to guide practitioners in determining how best to include parents in intervention. We argue that successful parental involvement depends upon the ability of parents and clinicians to reach consensus on issues such as the parents' role in the onset and development of stuttering, the rationale for including parents in fluency intervention, and the importance early intervention. The article concludes with a discussion of specific ways that parents can assist in intervention through modeling, managing conversational pace and complexity, and, in some cases, directly instructing their children.