Parent-child interaction therapy and dysfluency: a single-case study.

The hypothesis that the modification of parent-child interaction would reduce the dysfluency of a pre-school child was tested in an experimental single-case study. The subject, a four-year-old boy with a moderate to severe stutter, and his parents attended their local clinic for a total of 17 weeks. On each visit, 20-minute play periods with each parent were recorded and measures of fluency taken. No advice was offered in the first six weeks and these measures were used as a baseline for subsequent therapy. Therapy was given over the next six weeks. The parents were advised to make changes in their style of interaction and were asked to practise these at home each day. During the final five weeks, which served as consolidation, the parents continued to practise their skills at home but no new advice was offered. The analysis found no significant trend in the child's dysfluency during the baseline period, a significant improvement during therapy and stabilisation of the lower rate of dysfluencies during the maintenance period.