Please note: this is a report on, not a republishing, of an article that appeared in the August 2009 issue of the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

This article first appeared in the Winter 2011 CSAVoices.

Title of article reviewed: “Peer Responses to Stuttering in the Preschool Setting”
Authors: Marilyn Langevin, Ann Packman, and Mark Onslow, Australian Stuttering Research Centre, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Sean is a 4-year-old preschooler who stutters. He enjoys playing with his friends, but at times the words get in the way. In the same city live three other preschoolers who stutter – Aaron, Sarah, and David.  Stuttering affects each of them at preschool, especially when they’re playing with their friends.

What these preschoolers have in common, aside from being children who stutter, is the fact that they were subjects of a research project that Marilyn Langevin, of the University of Alberta, completed for her PhD dissertation at the University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Their names are pseudonyms.

Research based on observations of the four children by Marilyn Langevin, Ann Packman, and Mark Onslow, yields new information about how stuttering affects social interactions among preschool children.

The American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology has chosen “Peer Responses to Stuttering in the Preschool Setting,” the journal article based on this research, as the recipient of an ASHA (American Speech-Language Hearing Association) Editor’s Award for 2009. An article selected for an Editor’s Award is the one that the editor and associate editor of a given journal feel meets the highest quality standards in research design, presentation, and impact for a given year. It is a major honour and a significant achievement to receive this Award.

One in 20 people stutter during childhood when learning to speak. Many outgrow it, meaning that the incidence of stuttering among adults is one in 100 people. In deciding when to start treatment, clinicians have focused on what is known about the natural recovery from childhood stuttering, and the responsiveness of a given child to treatments such as the Lidcombe Program.

Now a third factor – the social penalties that stuttering preschoolers may encounter – has been added to the mix. “If stuttering is negatively affecting the social experiences of children in play,” say the authors, “then treatment may need to be started earlier rather than later.”

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