The purpose of this presentation was to provide the clinician with a 
clinically comprehensive, yet functional source of therapy principles,
goals, and activities for use with the dysfluent school-age child.  
This information is drawn from a wide source of research studies and 
treatment programs, which reflects our overall eclectic treatment
philosophy. 

Our treatment philosophy represents two separate philosophical schools
of thought, traditional and operant, and is heavily based upon the
developmental continuum of stuttering in children. Fluency shaping
therapy, based upon operant conditioning principles, first establishes
fluency in a controlled stimulus situation. This fluency is reinforced
and gradually modified to approximate normal conversational speech.
Traditional theorists take a more holistic approach looking at the
individual child and characteristics of the problem when planning
treatment. More recently, traditionalists are looking at possible 
contributing factors to the child's dysfluency, such as physiological,
cognitive, and social/emotional processes which may underlie the
symptom: by strengthening these "processes," fluency is thought to be
facilitated.

IN OUR EFFORT TO PROVIDE YOU WITH A COMPLETE AND 
COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH, KEEP IN MIND THAT THESE 
GOALS AND ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE USED DISCRIMINATELY - 
ASSESSING EACH CHILD'S INDIVIDUAL NEEDS AND 
CHARACTERISTICS - AS WELL AS SEVERITY, AGE AND 
MATURITY LEVEL. SOME  GOALS AND ACTIVITIES MAY NOT 
BE APPROPRIATE, YET OTHERS MAY ONLY REQUIRE SMALL 
MODIFICATIONS FOR USE WITH SPECIFIC CHILDREN.  YOU MAY 
FIND SOME  OF THESE ACTIVITIES TO BE THE FOUNDATION 
FOR MANY NEW IDEAS.

A major concern with the treatment of fluency in children is 
*maintaining the fluency*. We feel the following approach is especially
successful in this regard because we teach the children how to cope 
with and modify their stuttering, as well as teaching them fluency.