Investigation of the Effect of Distance Delivery of Lidcombe Program on the Severity of Stuttering in Preschool Children: A Single Subject Study

Objective: The Lidcombe program is one of the treatments for stuttering in preschool children, who is effectiveness on improvement in stuttering has been confirmed. Some families have no access to care centers due to different reasons and as such they are deprived of treatment. Considering the fact that some research has been conducted on telepractice of speech and language disorders through different ways in different countries, and regarding the cultural differences that influence the duration of Lidcombe program as well as its distant implementation, our objective in this research has been investigation of the extent of the effect of stuttering telepractice program on preschool children in Iran. Method: in this single subject study, Lidcombe program was implemented through live video communication between the therapist in a clinic and the subjects at home for 15 weekly sessions on five 4-6-year-old children, including three boys and two girls. To investigate the progress, the percentage of stuttered syllables, which were recorded by the therapist as well as 9-score stuttering severity scale, which was recorded by the parents at home, were employed. During the first base line, which had been considered as three weeks, 21 times the severity rating were recorded, while 3 times the percentage of stuttered syllables were recorded. In the treatment phase, which lasted 15 weekly sessions, 105 and 15 times the score of severity and the percentage of stuttered syllables were recorded respectively. In the second base line, which had been considered as three weeks, 21 and 3 times the score of severity and the percentage of stuttered syllables were recorded respectively. Results: to analyze the data of this study, Z-index and diagram plotting were used. Investigation of the scores of stuttering severity and the percentage of stuttered syllables before the treatment and after it suggests diminished severity and percentage of stuttered syllables in the children. After 15 sessions, two of the subjects approached the final criteria of the first phase of the Lidcombe program (scores with intensities 1 and 2), though they did not achieve the criteria. Other subjects did not achieve the final criteria of the first phase either, in spite of diminished severity and percentage of stuttering. Conclusion: the results obtained from this research suggest the effects of Lidcombe telepractice program on reduction of stuttering in the subjects. The results of this study showed that after 15 treatment sessions, the subjects did not manage to achieve the final criteria of the first phase of this program. Based on these results, it can be concluded that presentation of Lidcombe telepractice program can be effective in reducing the severity of stuttering. However, more sessions may be required, when compared with in-person treatment.