[Source: ASHAsphere]

One of the more challenging clinical decisions that confront speech-language pathologists is what to do with a young child who stutters. Do we recommend intervention? Do we wait and see if the child recovers without formal therapy? A recent study published in Pediatrics by Reilly and colleagues has generated a significant amount of press, with headlines declaring that preschool children who stutter will “do just fine.”
Even though this message does not appear to be the intent of the authors (as per their more detailed podcast on StutterTalk), it is the message the media chose to run with in their headlines. There are several key points about the Reilly article, preschool stuttering, and our current research base that need to be evaluated before we make claims such as those put forward by the media.
First, the Reilly et al. study used temperament and behavior scales, which were not designed to assess reactions to stuttering or communication. In fact, of the three scales used, only one had a question relating to communication, and it was not about stuttering. So, while it certainly may be true that young children who stutter may exhibit normal temperament and behavior (a finding we should not be surprised by), this study did not actually assess reactions to stuttering or communication, as the misleading media headlines have suggested.
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