The use of the lidcombe program in treating stuttering among Saudi children

Abstract EN

BACKGROUND : It is known that operant treatments can control stuttering in children.

However, at present it is unknown Why such treatments are effective.

The Lidcombe Program (LP) is an operant treatment for stuttering in preschool children For which favorable outcome and social validity data have been published .

OBGECTIVE: To apply the Lidcombe Program on a sample of Saudi stuttering children, and to evaluate its results in order To decide if it is worth starting intervention for early stuttering or waiting for natural recovery.

METHODS: This study was applied on 10 children suffering from stuttering for 6 months or more.

They were assessed both Subjectively and objectively.

They were enrolled in therapy sessions using the Lidcombe Program for 25 weeks.

This LP Group was reassessed weekly to achieve both the clinician’s rating score [stuttered words percentage(SW%) ], using the Arabic version of stuttering severity index and the parent’s rating score [severity rating (SR)].

Ten age and gender matched Stuttering children, who cannot attend for regular therapy, were included as a control group and were assessed only at Two scheduled occasions with an interval of 25 weeks.

Results: The LP group of patients showed significant improvement (p<0.05) in both the clinician's rating(SW%) and parent’s rating scores(SR) by the end of the LP.

The improvement in both scores started to be significant at the 5th week (p<0.05) and this significant improvement was maintained throughout the rest of the program.

By the end of the LP therapy both clinician rating(SW%) and parent rating scores revealed significant difference (p<0.05) from the 1st week score.

While the control group showed no significant difference between the mean score of SW% at the two assessment occasions Conclusion : This study supports implementing the Lidcombe Program in preschool years than waiting for spontaneous Recovery.

LP is proved to be also effective among Saudi stutterer children as its results were optimistic in other different Social environments.