ABSTRACT
There appears to be widespread agreement about the benefits of early intervention for young children who stutter (Gregory & Hill, 1980; Lincoln, Onslow, & Reid, 1997; Starkweather & Gottwald, 1993). There are still varying opinions, however, about when early intervention should be initiated (Bernstein Ratner, 1997; Cooper & Cooper, 1996; Curlee & Yairi, 1997; Starkweather, 1997) and what the treatment components of an efficient early intervention program should include (Gregory & Hill, 1993; Lincoln & Onslow, 1997; Starkweather, Gottwald, & Halfond, 1990; Zebrowski, 1997). Furthermore, the relationship between family communication patterns, including the speech, language, and interaction patterns of significant people in the child's life, and the development of stuttering continues to be disputed (Starkweather & Gottwald, 1993; Yairi, 1997). Likewise, the benefits of family involvement in early intervention for stuttering are unclear. Some programs describe successful outcomes when family behavior change is a part of the early intervention plan (Adams, 1992; Starkweather, Gottwald, & Halfond, 1990; Zebrowski, Weiss, Savelkoul, & Hammer, 1996). Other early intervention programs have reported successful results when the child's speech behaviors alone are the focus of therapy (Onslow, Andrews, & Lincoln, 1994; Shine, 1984).
