ASRC Research

Since its inception in January 1996, the Australian Stuttering Research Centre has received continuous external funding for research. Much of this in the form of competitive grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and the Australia Research Council.

For the period 2006-2010 the Centre was awarded a $4.4 million grant for research to improve the efficiency and accessibility of stuttering treatments. Included within this program of research are the following areas:

• Determining the efficacy and efficiency of various modes of delivery of the Lidcombe Program of Early Stuttering Intervention
• Clinical trials of new treatments for early stuttering and stuttering in school age children
• Clinical trial of cognitive behaviour therapy for social anxiety in those who stutter
• The clinical application of altered auditory feedback in stuttering treatment
• Self modelling procedures as an adjunct to stuttering treatments for adults
• Dual tasking as an adjunct to stuttering treatments for adults.

Additional funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council supports a clinical trial of telehealth adaptations of standard treatments. Clinical trials have been conducted to determine the efficacy of the Camperdown Program, for treatment of adults who stutter, and the Lidcombe Program, for treatment of children who stutter.

Funding from the Australia Research Council supports ASRC research into basic, non-clinical research into the disorder. Funded projects include

• Exploring the role of respiration in stuttering
• Exploring the role of anxiety in stuttering
• Exploring the early stages of stuttering

The latter project is being conducted in collaboration with colleagues at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne. A large number of normally developing children are being studied in order to study those who begin to stutter.

Doctoral students at the ASRC explore a range of topics with their research. Examples of current projects include

• Peer reactions to early stuttering
• Parents’ experiences with the Lidcombe Program
• Stuttering and its treatment in Mandarin
• The development of social anxiety in stuttering
• Stuttering in adolescents

A list of the ASRC publications can be found at the Publications link on our home page.