Question
When taking a conversational speech sample at the beginning of a client’s fluency treatment session, should I collect the sample online?
Answer
Yes. Typically, I have groups of no more than five preschoolers and I use the same form for each child. In my first section of the form I will put ‘Bobby’, by the second section I will put ‘Joey’ and by the third section I will put ‘Billy’. I'm working to stimulate conversation in that first five to 10 minutes of the session. I am taking my disfluency count on that one form for all of the children in the session. This is where it is important to become efficient when collecting it. So if I notice that Billy is talking a lot but I have 20 more words I need from Joey then I really focus on Joey – “What else did you do at school today? What are you going to do tomorrow?” - to really get 100 words from everyone. I then enter the disfluency count on a spreadsheet file so I have a graphic representation that is continuous from session to session to session.
Kia N. Johnson is an assistant professor and Director of the Developmental Stuttering Laboratory within the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders at James Madison University (Harrisonburg, Virginia). She has provided lectures at local and national professional conferences on assessment and treatment of developmental stuttering in preschool and school-aged populations.nd treatment of developmental stuttering in preschool and school-aged populations.
