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THEORY, RESEARCH AND THERAPY IN FLUENCY DISORDERS Proceedings of the Fourth World Congress in Fluency Disorders Montreal, August 11-15, 2003 Edited by A.Packman, A.Meltzer and H.Peters Published by Nijmegen University Press Nijmegen, 2004. 562 pages ISBN Price Eur 47,50 (packing and mailing costs included) SOLD OUT |
This book brings together a wide range of topics in the area of stuttering provide a microcosm of the global interest in stuttering and disorders of fluency. There are treatment research studies and descriptive reports of various approaches to interventions; there are scientific reports of physiological and neurophysiological research, including brain imaging; there are linguistic studies; there are studies of differences in both stuttering and attitudes to stuttering across culturally and linguistically diverse populations; there are well developed theoretical reports on the nature and cause of stuttering; and there are reports reflecting the growing importance and influence of self-help and advocacy groups around the globe.
A new feature of these Proceedings is that the manuscripts submitted for publication, subsequent to the Congress, were sent out for independent peer review of content. These reviewing procedure much improved the quality of the manuscripts.
One of the issues that arose as a result of the review process was that of evidence-based practice (EPB). As most people are aware, there is a growing move towards EBP, which states that clinicians are obliged to consider available research evidence in deciding when and how to intervene with people who stutter and their families. However, it is clear that there are many established and respected treatments for stuttering around the world for which there is no supporting evidence but which may well be effective. Treatment research requires considerable resources which are beyond the reach of many in the field, especially clinicians working “at the coal face” in under-resourced communities.
In relation to EPB, it is encouraging to see an increase in the development of procedures that measure treatment outcomes other than those based on stuttering counts. Clearly, some interventions are designed to change behaviors, attitudes, feelings and/or cognitive processes other than, or in addition to, stuttering behaviors per se. The provision of such outcome data will enable people who stutter, their families, and their clinicians, to consider the levels of evidence available for various interventions and empower them to make informed choices from the wide variety of treatment approaches confronting them.
The book is now sold out