Good afternoon everyone.
My name is Sarita Koushik.
Five weeks ago I gave birth to my first child.
His name is Marley.
I was asked to deliver my speech today in approximately five minutes.
As you can see,
five minutes might not be enough time for a person who stutters
to really get their message across.
As a matter of fact,
many adults who stutter will not speak in a public event like this.
Research shows that advanced stuttering is linked to mental health disorders
including social phobia and anxiety;
therefore, an early intervention program is essential.
However, receiving treatment in a timely manner
is not always possible, for two reasons.
One: The demands for speech and language pathology have increased around the world
and have doubled to 16 months in parts of Australia during the last year.
And two: To meet those demands,
clinical institutions are reducing the number of allocated treatment sessions
which may not be enough for stuttering child to complete the treatment process.
One such treatment is called the Lidcombe Program;
it's an early intervention approach for stuttering.
There are two stages of a Lidcombe program.
In stage one, the parent and child visit clinician on a weekly basis
and this continues until the child reaches near zero levels of stuttering
and then the child enters the second stage which is maintenance.
So the question is:
How long does sessions take during stage one?
Well, evidence shows that in stage one it takes 21 weekly clinic visits
for 90% of children to reach zero level of stuttering;
however, with increased caseloads and decreased numbers of clinic visits,
clinicians are not adhering to weekly sessions,
but instead they're offering
more intensive
and less intensive treatment
than the standard.
So, the aim of my research is to evaluate the effects of varying treatment schedules
on number of clinic visits during stage one of the Lidcombe program.
Children in my study are randomly assigned to one of three treatment options.
In the first group
they're receiving
weekly treatment
and we'll compare that
to the other two groups.
In the second they receive twice weekly treatment
and in the third group they receive treatment every fortnight.
So findings from my study will help clinicians better manage their caseloads
will help clinical institutions make informed decision
regarding optimal treatment sessions,
but ultimately my research will benefit the children.
Not only will they receive an effective treatment schedule
in the management of their stuttering,
but we will stop the stuttering before it advances,
ao that each child will have the equal opportunity to speak in public events
like TEDxNewy.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)