Syllabic speech technique to decline stuttering severity and its concomitants in Persian-speaking school-age children with stuttering: A preliminary study from Iran

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that syllable speech technique (SST) has the potential to be a useful and practical way to achieve stutter-free speech for children with stuttering (CWS).In this preliminary study, the use of SST in Persian-speaking school-age CWS was investigated. Materials and methods:Ten 8-to-11-year-old students with stuttering were entered the study as participants.We tried to enhance their speech fluency using SST accompanied by verbal encouragement for stutter-free speech.The outcome measures (primary and secondary measures) were evaluated in three-time sections, including before (T0), after (T1), and one month after intervention (T2).Participants' scores and the mean ± SD of outcomes are presented in tables.Results: The children showed significantly better scores on all primary and secondary measures at T1 (p ≤ 0.004) and T2 (p ≤ 0.005) compared with T0.There was no significant difference between T1 and T2 (p ≥ 0.026). Conclusion:The reported benefits of SST in stuttering reduction and speech-related anxiety relieving of Persian-speaking school-age CWS confirms the feasibility and usefulness of this technique.