Contemporary clinical conversations about stuttering: Does the cause of stuttering matter to clinicians?

Purpose: To discuss whether stuttering causality matters to clinicians during clinical practice, and how and why it might matter. Additionally, to provide early-career clinicians and students with entry-level assistance with this complex topic.

Method: The issue was discussed by two academics and two experienced speech-language pathologists in private practice. Written conversational turns in an exchange were limited to 100 words each. When that written dialogue was concluded, the moderator summarised the discussion.

Result: All participants agreed that the cause of stuttering does matter to speech-language pathologists during clinical practice.

Conclusion: The following three key points emerged from the conversation. Firstly, no-one referred to a formally stated theory or model when explaining cause to clients. Instead, all in the conversation stayed on the solid ground of current facts about the cause of stuttering. Secondly, explaining the cause of stuttering can benefit clients and parents. It can support them and give them confidence and empowerment during clinical management and increase the credibility of a management plan. Finally, in essence, this topic relates to evidence-based practice, for which there are no fixed rules. Different clinicians may make different judgments about what is and what is not true, useful, and important.