The Lidcombe Program of Early Stuttering Intervention

The Lidcombe Program of Early Stuttering Intervention

Guest Post by: Ann Kulichik, M.S., CCC-SLP

In 2011, I went to a seminar that changed my professional life forever.  It was for a preschool stuttering program called “Lidcombe.”  I immediately implemented it with several children, and the results outstripped anything I had previously done with them.  Plus, it’s lots of fun.

The Lidcombe approach is a parent training program, based upon positive reinforcement.  A trained speech pathologist works with the child’s parent(s) on how to provide structured feedback to the child, giving him a sense of control over his speech.  Parents do daily ratings of the severity of their child’s stutter, which steers the direction of therapy.  When the child reaches a minimum level of stuttering, he is weaned off the program.

It is estimated that over three million Americans stutter.  Stuttering affects individuals of all ages, but occurs most frequently in children between the ages of 2 and 6. Boys are three times more likely to stutter than girls. The Lidcombe Program has the biggest research base of all preschool interventions.  It originated in Australia, where it has been available for several years.  Now, it is being introduced in this country by a small number of therapists who are trained in the approach.  The majority of preschool children are able to complete the Lidcombe Program successfully, and remain below 1% syllables stuttered for at least 7 years.  This is in strong contrast to many other programs, in which there is a 50% relapse rate.  And, in addition to the Lidcombe Program’s efficacy with stuttering, a positive effect has been found on child behavior, after the program is administered.

Brendan, the father of a little girl who had a severe stutter, had this to say about me, after working with this program:

“Ann’s ability to connect with my daughter has been nothing short of extraordinary. Her effective methods and engaging style have vastly improved my daughter’s fluency in a remarkably short period of time. The results have far exceeded any of our expectations, and my wife and I are extremely grateful for all of her efforts and expertise.”

Ann Kulichik, MS, CCC-SLP is a speech pathologist in private practice, in Tewksbury, Massachusetts.  She can be found at: www.akspeech.com

Kimberly Scanlon, M.A., CCC-SLP is also officially trained by the Lidcombe Program Training Consortium. For more information, about the Lidcombe Program please visit The Australian Stuttering Research Centre.

Kimberly Scanlon, M.A. CCC-SLP is a speech language pathologist, an author and a mother. As the owner of Scanlon Speech Therapy, LLC, a unique boutique practice in Bergen County, Kimberly embraces individuality and treats the whole person. Her goal is to spread compassion, hope, and some speech, language and literacy tips one moment, one person at a time.  Her first book, My Toddler Talks: Strategies and Activities to Promote Your Child’s Language Development and her her second book, Learning to Read is a Ball are available for purchase at online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.