Adapting the Lidcombe Program for 6–12 year-olds: Practical resources and recommendations for community-based clinicians (2.30-3.30pm)
Tracks
Concurrent session T1
Research
Service delivery
Stuttering/fluency
Telepractice
Therapy
Wellbeing
| Tuesday, May 28, 2024 |
| 2:30 PM - 2:45 PM |
| BelleVue Ballroom 02 |
Overview
Georgina Johnson and Elaina Kefalianos
Details
⏫ Skill-building session
📚 Assumed knowledge of attendees: Advanced (have significant expertise or similar field of knowledge e.g. regularly treating several cases)
📚 Assumed knowledge of attendees: Advanced (have significant expertise or similar field of knowledge e.g. regularly treating several cases)
Presenter
Ms Georgina Johnson
University Of Melbourne
Adapting the Lidcombe Program for 6–12 year-olds: Practical resources and recommendations for community-based clinicians
2:30 PM - 3:30 PMPresentation summary
Childhood stuttering is common, affecting 1 in 10 Australian children by 4 years of age, and can have debilitating, long-term psychosocial implications if prompt and effective treatment is not provided. For this reason, above all other childhood speech and language disorders, speech pathologists from around the world have acknowledged stuttering as a top priority for intervention services (McGill et al., 2021). Clinicians therefore need knowledge and skills founded in quality clinical research to best support our Australian children who stutter.
The Lidcombe Program has robust evidence for treating stuttering in early childhood and is widely used by Australian speech pathologists. The results of a recent Phase II trial with a cohort of 6–12 year old children showed that this treatment may benefit a much broader age range of children than initially thought. A key part of this Phase II trial included fortnightly clinical mentoring meetings between the treating clinician and a member of the Lidcombe Program Trainers Consortium. From these discussions, practical recommendations and clinical resources were developed specifically to help community clinicians in private practice and school-based settings to adapt aspects of the Lidcombe Program Treatment Guide for 6–12 year old children to enhance clinical outcomes. Five key topics emerged from these meetings to support clinicians, including: (a) active generalisation of stutter-free speech to everyday conversations, (b) strategies for involving the child in the treatment process, (c) examples of non-verbal contingencies, (d) optimising treatment dosage for busy families, and (e) versatile clinical resources for different settings and child ages.
The purpose of this presentation is therefore to showcase treatment videos and practical resources that community clinicians can readily use in their practice when treating childhood stuttering. This will assist clinicians to use the Lidcombe Program flexibly to cater to the varied needs of a wider range of children.
The Lidcombe Program has robust evidence for treating stuttering in early childhood and is widely used by Australian speech pathologists. The results of a recent Phase II trial with a cohort of 6–12 year old children showed that this treatment may benefit a much broader age range of children than initially thought. A key part of this Phase II trial included fortnightly clinical mentoring meetings between the treating clinician and a member of the Lidcombe Program Trainers Consortium. From these discussions, practical recommendations and clinical resources were developed specifically to help community clinicians in private practice and school-based settings to adapt aspects of the Lidcombe Program Treatment Guide for 6–12 year old children to enhance clinical outcomes. Five key topics emerged from these meetings to support clinicians, including: (a) active generalisation of stutter-free speech to everyday conversations, (b) strategies for involving the child in the treatment process, (c) examples of non-verbal contingencies, (d) optimising treatment dosage for busy families, and (e) versatile clinical resources for different settings and child ages.
The purpose of this presentation is therefore to showcase treatment videos and practical resources that community clinicians can readily use in their practice when treating childhood stuttering. This will assist clinicians to use the Lidcombe Program flexibly to cater to the varied needs of a wider range of children.
Key messages
1. An understanding of specific benefits of video telehealth when implementing the Lidcombe Program to school-age children.
2. An understanding of how to use the Lidcombe Program Treatment Guide to flexibly cater to the needs of a wider age range of children.
3. Practical resources and strategies for delivering the Lidcombe Program to older children.
2. An understanding of how to use the Lidcombe Program Treatment Guide to flexibly cater to the needs of a wider age range of children.
3. Practical resources and strategies for delivering the Lidcombe Program to older children.
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Georgina Johnson is a speech pathologist and clinical researcher completing her doctoral studies at the University of Melbourne. Georgina has extensive clinical experience working with children and adults who stutter, particularly school-age children. She is also a co-Director of the Stuttering Association for the Young, Australia (SAY: AU). Her current research focus is investigating effective childhood stuttering management to help advance the knowledge and skills of community speech pathologists.
Dr Elaina Kefalianos
University Of Melbourne
Adapting the Lidcombe Program for 6–12 year-olds: Practical resources and recommendations for community-based clinicians
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM**********
Elaina Kefalianos is Course Coordinator and Senior Lecturer for Speech Pathology at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is the Vice-President for the Stuttering Association for the Young: Australia. She has more than 15 years of clinical experience treating people who stutter. Her research focuses exclusively on stuttering with a particular interest in epidemiology, anxiety and intervention.
Session chair
Helen Hall
Student volunteer(s)
Lillian Hennessy-Ellis
Student
Curtin University
Michelle Lenihan
Edith Cowan University
The information contained in this program is current at of the time of publishing but is subject to changes made without notice.
Disclaimer: © (2024) The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited. All rights reserved.
Important Notice, please read: The views expressed in this presentation and reproduced in these materials are not necessarily the views of, or endorsed by, The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited ("the Association"). The Association makes no warranty or representation in relation to the content, currency or accuracy of any of the materials comprised in this presentation. The Association expressly disclaims any and all liability (including liability for negligence) in respect of use of these materials and the information contained within them. The Association recommends you seek independent professional advice prior to making any decision involving matters outlined in this presentation including in any of the materials referred to or otherwise incorporated into this presentation.
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