RESULTS OF A TRADITIONAL ACUPUNCTURE INTERVENTION FOR STUTTERING

It is important that researchers investigate alternative strategies fo r treating stuttering, as contemporary treatments are not entirely suc cessful in reducing stuttering with all people. Furthermore, many who have been ''successfully'' treated suffer from high relapse rates in t he long term. Acupuncture has been shown to be a promising treatment f or several diverse disorders, so a pilot investigation into its effect iveness for stuttering was considered worthwhile. This study investiga ted traditional acupuncture-based treatments for two adult males who h ad stuttered since childhood. A single-case experimental ABAB multiple baseline design was employed to test for treatment effectiveness. Sub jects were followed up for a further 12 weeks to evaluate maintenance (C phase) of possible improvements. No significant ABAB reversal effec ts were observed, and stuttering frequency through the treatment phase s remained at baseline levels for the two subjects. Speech rate also r emained at baseline levels throughout the treatment phases, as did nat uralness of speech and anxiety levels. This research is important as c laims that acupuncture may successfully reduce stuttering need to be t ested, and the scope and usefulness of treatments like acupuncture for a wide variety of problems needs to be determined. However, the low s ubject numbers involved suggest caution in concluding acupuncture is n ot a successful intervention for stuttering. Perhaps alternative acupu ncture points need to be evaluated and a wider variety of persons who stutter need to be involved in any future research.