Enhancing treatment for school-age children who stutter I. Reducing negative reactions through desensitization and cognitive restructuring

This paper describes several treatment strategies that clinicians can use to address negative affective, behavioral, and cognitive reactions that school-age children who stutter may experience as part of their disorder. Specific strategies include desensitization to stuttering, cognitive restructuring, self-acceptance, purposeful self-disclosure, and a combination of both fluency enhancing and stuttering modification approaches. To facilitate clinicians' application of these techniques, the strategies are presented in the context of a case study involving a 9-year-old boy who participated in a comprehensive treatment program for stuttering. Following treatment, the child exhibited improved communication attitudes and a reduced frequency and severity of stuttering, combined with reduced concern about stuttering, as indicated through formal and informal assessments. Findings suggest that clinicians can help children overcome the negative reactions associated with stuttering through a number of treatment strategies that can be applied in a variety of clinical settings. Educational objectives: After reading this article, participants will be able to: (1) define desensitization and cognitive restructuring and provide two arguments in favor of using these strategies in treatment for school-age children who stutter; (2) describe two treatment strategies for helping school-age children achieve desensitization through stuttering therapy; (3) describe two treatment strategies for helping school-age children engage in cognitive restructuring in the context of therapy. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.