Premium
Efficacy of speech and language therapy for fluency disorders: adults who stammer
Author(s) -
STEWART TRUDY
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
international journal of language and communication disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.101
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1460-6984
pISSN - 1368-2822
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-6984.1995.tb01737.x
Subject(s) - psychology , fluency , psychotherapist , context (archaeology) , perspective (graphical) , speech therapy , stuttering , developmental psychology , medicine , computer science , audiology , mathematics education , paleontology , artificial intelligence , biology
The treatment of adults who stammer is an area which has been the focus of much critical investigation both within and outside the speech and language therapy profession for several decades. This paper charts the progress in efficacy in this area over time, including the state of the art in 1945 when the College of Speech and Language Therapists was established. Changes in subsequent decades are also outlined and placed within the context of medical and psychological developments and the social history of the time. In recent years there have been a number of attempts to define efficacy. Various models and goals of therapy have been put forward and these are reviewed critically. Finally, it is argued that the current views tend to regard efficacy from a limited perspective and, in order to improve our approaches and outcomes, additional factors should be taken into consideration. Some suggestions for extending efficacy consideration to encompass client, clinician and wider perspectives are presented.