Pilot: Group Therapy for Children Who Stammer

The aim of the study is to answer the question: Is a large-scale research study of the effectiveness of group speech and language therapy (SALT) for young people who stammer possible? The study will look at the issues involved in setting up a large-scale investigation of treatment for young people who stammer. It will inform the investigators whether larger studies would be possible and give some early-stage information on the effectiveness of group SALT for these young people. The findings will pave the way for building and testing out treatment programmes where there will be clear positive benefit for young people who stammer and their families. To answer the research question, the study will tell the investigators (a) how easy/difficult it was to get people to take part, (b) young people and parents'/carers' views on taking part and (c) whether the assessments were able to pick up changes in speech and attitudes towards stammering reported by the young people and their carers. Sufficient numbers of participants were not recruited to carry out the intended rehearsal pilot RCT study design.