Researchers have shown that telehealth delivery of the Lidcombe Program of Early Stuttering Intervention can be effective. In a randomized, controlled study, a speech-language pathologist delivered the program to parents during telephone calls.

After 9 months, stuttering during conversational speech decreased by 73% in the children in the treatment group compared with stuttering in the nontreatment control group. However, the telehealth delivery takes about three times the resources of conventional delivery in a clinic. Thus, telehealth delivery should be used only for children who are unable to receive the Lidcombe program in a clinic.

After the study, children in the nontreatment control group received the same treatment as those in the treatment group.

Source: Lewis C, et al. A phase II trial of telehealth delivery of the Lidcombe Program of Early Stuttering Intervention. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 17(2):139-149, May 2008.

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