Clinical training in stuttering for school clinicians

Treatment of chronic stuttering: outcomes from a student training clinic

“…It would seem that one important factor that bears on clinician confidence in working with people who stutter is the adequacy of the academic instruction and clinical experiences during professional preparation (Shapiro 1999). Yet, in the past such preparation has not been considered adequate (Mallard et al 1988, Watson 1994. Watson highlighted the need to provide stimulating and relevant clinical and academic training to improve the effectiveness of stuttering intervention, and Mallard et al concluded that training in stuttering in the USA was inadequate to prepare professionals to work with people who stutter.…”

Update on Didactic and Clinical Education in Fluency Disorders: 2013–2014

“…Several other studies have confirmed clinicians' overall lack of competence and comfort in treatment of fluency disorders (Brisk et al, 1997;Mallard, Gardner, & Downey, 1988;Kelly et al, 1997). According to Mallard et al (1988), three-quarters of the 87 master's-level clinicians who participated in the study reported that they had little confidence in treating fluency disorders. Brisk et al's (1997) study of 500 school-based clinicians revealed that clinicians felt ill-prepared to provide treatment as compared to evaluation.…”

“…Respondents also reported that they felt inadequately prepared to address emotional or cognitive aspects of the disorder (Cooper & Cooper, 1996). Several other studies have confirmed clinicians' overall lack of competence and comfort in treatment of fluency disorders (Brisk et al, 1997;Mallard, Gardner, & Downey, 1988;Kelly et al, 1997). According to Mallard et al (1988), three-quarters of the 87 master's-level clinicians who participated in the study reported that they had little confidence in treating fluency disorders.…”

Are graduate students receiving adequate education and training in fluency disorders?

“…The item analysis for internal consistency was conducted based on yes/no questions. Therefore, questions 4,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,14, and 47 were removed because they were knowledge question rather than questions about opinions. Questions 15 and 16 contained a missing value and were removed as well.…”

“…With limited training and education in fluency disorders at the university level, it is possible that practicing clinicians who demonstrate partial knowledge about fluency disorders may lose the trust of their clients [7]. Speech-language pathologists who work in schools also have reported feelings of inadequacy when treating fluency disorders [1,[6][7][8][9]. It is quite possible that these professionals lack confidence in assessing and treating fluency disorders because they did not receive sufficient fluency education or opportunities to assess and treat fluency disorders as part of their college education.…”