Telepractice in School-Age Children Who Stutter: A Controlled Before and After Study to Evaluate the Efficacy Of MIDA-SP

Donatella Tomaiuoli; Francesca Del Gado; Sara Marchetti; Lisa Scordino; Diletta Vedovelli

doi:10.5195/ijt.2021.6380

Telepractice in School-Age Children Who Stutter: A Controlled Before and After Study to Evaluate the Efficacy Of MIDA-SP

Int J Telerehabil. 2021 Jun 22;13(1):e6380. doi: 10.5195/ijt.2021.6380. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Donatella Tomaiuoli^{1

2

3}, Francesca Del Gado^{1

2}, Sara Marchetti¹, Lisa Scordino¹, Diletta Vedovelli¹

Affiliations

¹ CRC Center of Research and Cure of Rome, Rome, Italy.
² Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
³ University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a general reorganization of rehabilitation services in Italy. The lockdown in Italy led to the use of telepractice for the delivery of speech therapy, including stuttering. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Multidimensional, Integrated, Differentiated, Art-Mediated Stuttering Program (MIDA-SP; Tomaiuoli et al., 2012), delivered online for school-age children who stutter. A non-randomized controlled pre- and post-treatment study included an experimental group (11 children) receiving a telepractice adaptation of MIDA-SP and a historical control group (11 children) receiving in-person MIDA-SP. Both groups had been assessed with the Stuttering Severity Instrument - Fourth Edition (SSI-4) and Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering (OASES-S) pre- and post-treatment. No statistically significant differences were found between the two modes of delivery. These findings suggest that MIDA-SP treatment delivered via telepractice is effective for school-age children who stutter.

Keywords: Fluency; MIDA-Stuttering Program; Stuttering; Telehealth; Telepractice.