Exploring the Nature, Assessment and Treatment of Stuttering

Stuttering Clinical Trial

Official title:

The Blank Center CARE Model™: An Anti-Ableist Approach to Treatment

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05908123
• Other study ID #: 2015050044
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: May 22, 2015
• Est. completion date: May 22, 2035

Study information

• Verified date: June 2023
• Source: University of Texas at Austin
• Contact: Courtney T Byrd, PhD
• Phone: 512 475 6174
• Email: courtney.byrd[@]austin.utexas.edu
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purposes of this study are to 1) investigate potential speech, language, and psychosocial contributions to the experience of stuttering in monolingual and multilingual speakers, and to 2) evaluate interdisciplinary, telehealth, and speech-language pathology treatment methods and clinical training specific to fluency disorders.

Description:

Stuttering is a neurophysiological communication disorder characterized by a disruption in the forward flow of speech. Stuttering is multifactorial in nature, meaning there are several factors that likely to contribute to the development of stuttering in children and persistence of stuttering into adulthood. About 1% of the worldwide population stutters. In the United States, over 3 million people stutter. Research suggests people who stutter present with negative cognitive and affective components of the disorder, and that the general population holds negative perceptions of stuttering. Historically, people who stutter spend thousands of dollars on treatment that is not effective in mitigating the negative impact of stuttering on their overall communication and quality of life.

Speech-language pathologists evaluate and treat persons who stutter across the lifespan. Research suggests speech-language pathologists report fluency disorders (stuttering and cluttering) as the communication disorders with which they feel least competent and comfortable.

Thus, the purposes of this study are to 1) investigate potential speech, language, psychosocial, and motor contributions to stuttered speech production in monolingual and multilingual speakers and to 2) evaluate interdisciplinary, telehealth, and speech-language pathology treatment methods and clinical training tools specific to fluency disorders.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 3000
• Est. completion date: May 22, 2035
• Est. primary completion date: May 22, 2035
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 2 Years to 85 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

A participant will be considered a child who stutters (ages 2-17 years) if

• their parent/caregiver reports concern that their child is a person who stutters,

• they exhibit three of more stuttering-like disfluencies (e.g., sound/syllable repetitions, (in)audible sound prolongations, whole-word repetitions) per 300-word speech sample, or

• they present with an overall score of 11 or higher on the Stuttering Severity Instrument - 4th Edition (SSI-4).

A participant will be considered an adult who stutters (18+ years) if

• they report they are a person who stutters,

• they have received a formal diagnosis of stuttering from a certified speech-language pathologist,

• they exhibit three of more stuttering-like disfluencies (e.g., sound/syllable repetitions, (in)audible sound prolongations, whole-word repetitions) per 300-word speech sample, or

• they present with an overall score of 11 or higher on the Stuttering Severity Instrument - 4th Edition (SSI-4).

Exclusion Criteria:

• There are no exclusion criteria for persons who stutter.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Stuttering
• Stuttering, Adult
• Stuttering, Childhood
• Stuttering, Developmental

Intervention

Behavioral:
• The Blank Center CARE Model(TM) for Individuals who Stutter
The over-arching goal of the Blank Center CARE Model is to ensure individuals who stutter communicate effectively, advocate for themselves in a manner that maintains agency, and ensure their quality of life does not depend on producing, or attempting to control, stuttered speech.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research	Austin	Texas

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Texas at Austin

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Communication Competence	psychometric measures of communication competence (e.g., CARE Assessment: Communication Subscale)	11-weeks
Primary	Advocacy	psychometric measures of self-advocacy (e.g., CARE Assessment: Advocacy Subscale)	11-weeks
Primary	Resilience	psychometric measures of resilience (e.g., CARE Assessment: Resilience Subscale)	11-weeks
Primary	Education	psychometric measures of education about stuttering (e.g., CARE Assessment: Education Subscale)	11-weeks

External Links

•   primary website for research center [Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research]