AP and the Psyche
STUTTERING
Craig_AR; Kearns M (1995) Results of a traditional AP intervention for stuttering. J Speech Hear Res Jun 38(3):572-578. Dept of Health Services, UTS New South Wales, Australia. It is important that researchers investigate alternative strategies for treating stuttering, as contemporary treatments are not entirely successful in reducing stuttering with all people. Also, many "successfully treated" cases suffer from high relapse rates in the long term. AP seems to be a promising treatment for several disorders, so a pilot investigation into its effectiveness for stuttering was considered worthwhile. This study investigated traditional AP-based treatments for 2 adult males who had stuttered since childhood. A single-case experimental ABAB multiple baseline design was employed to test for treatment effectiveness. Subjects were followed up for a further 12 wk to evaluate maintenance (C phase) of possible improvement. No significant ABAB reversal effects were observed, and stuttering frequency through the treatment phases remained at baseline levels for the 2 subjects. Speech rate also remained at baseline levels throughout the treatment phases, as did naturalness of speech and anxiety levels. This research is important as claims that AP may successfully reduce stuttering need to be tested, and the scope and usefulness of treatments like AP for a wide variety of problems needs to be determined. However, the low subject numbers involved suggest caution in concluding AP is not a successful intervention for stuttering. Perhaps alternative AP points need to be evaluated and a wider variety of persons who stutter need to be involved in any future research.