Stuttering Treatment for Children: What the Evidence Shows

The stuttering treatment with the strongest evidence for children under 6 is the Lidcombe Program, led by a speech pathologist in weekly sessions, with a short daily practice at home that she shows the parent and checks. For school-aged children and teenagers the research is thinner, and teenagers who want to can learn to control stuttering with a method called speech restructuring, of which the Camperdown Program is the Australian version.

Which treatment fits depends mostly on age. In every program the speech pathologist assesses, sets the goals and runs the sessions; what changes is who practises between sessions: a young child with a parent’s help, a school-aged child with a parent, or the teenager.

Which stuttering treatments have evidence?

Six named treatments for children and teenagers have published trials behind them, and they differ in age, in what happens at home between sessions and in how strongly they have been tested. A randomised trial, where children are allotted to treatments by chance, is the strongest kind of test.

Treatment	Ages it was tested with	What the family does	Trial evidence	Tested by telehealth?
Lidcombe Program	Under 6; also studied at 6 to 12	Short daily practice with brief feedback on the child’s talking, and one stuttering score a day, as the speech pathologist shows and checks	Several randomised trials; the strongest evidence for this age	Yes: a randomised trial of 49 children found webcam and clinic delivery similar
RESTART-DCM	3 to 6	Parents reduce pressure on the child’s speech (an unhurried pace, no interrupting), with direct speech work added if needed	One randomised trial of 199 children: results similar to the Lidcombe Program at 18 months	No published trial found
Palin PCI	Mostly preschool	Parents use interaction strategies practised with video feedback, plus family and child strategies	Small single-case studies and one larger before-and-after study; no large randomised trial found	No published trial found
Westmead Program	Preschool	Parent and child practise a rhythmic way of talking together each day	A randomised trial of 91 children found no clear difference from the Lidcombe Program, but many families dropped out, so the result is tentative	No published trial found
Syllable-timed speech with parent praise (the Oakville approach)	School age, 6 to 11	The child practises rhythmic speech at home with a parent, who also praises smooth talking	Two early trials of 10 and 22 children, with no comparison group	No published trial found
Camperdown Program (speech restructuring)	Adults and older teenagers	The teenager practises a fluency technique daily or several times a week; a parent is usually involved	Randomised trials with adults; two small trials with teenagers	Yes: a trial of 40 adults found telehealth and clinic similar, and both teenage trials were run by webcam

“No published trial found” means none turned up in the research reviewed for this guide in November 2026. It does not mean the program cannot be done by video.

Can stuttering be cured?

No treatment cures stuttering, and honest sources say so. The Australian Stuttering Research Centre says that because genetics is involved, it is not really right to think about a cure. The United States National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders says there is currently no cure, and a variety of treatments.

What treatment can do is reduce stuttering, often a great deal, and what it aims for changes with age:

Under 6: the Lidcombe Program’s goal is speech with no stuttering or almost none, kept up over time. Early treatment is simpler and more effective than later treatment, the research centre says.
6 to 12: less stuttering, and a child who feels comfortable talking at home and at school.
Teenagers: control. The Camperdown Program’s guide says its aim is to let people control stuttering to the extent they find acceptable in the conversations they choose, and describes its technique as a way of controlling stuttering, not a cure.

How do you stop a child from stuttering?

You do not stop a child’s stuttering by telling them to slow down or take a breath. The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network advises parents against those comments, because they can make a child more self-conscious. Quick tips for how to stop or fix a stutter are mostly written for adults.

What reduces stuttering in a child is treatment matched to age, after an assessment by a speech pathologist: a speech pathologist leading the Lidcombe Program under 6, working with the child directly in an adapted program at school age, and working with the teenager on structured practice they drive in the teenage years. Habits at home that help a child feel heard are in how to help a child who stutters; they support treatment, they do not replace it.

What has no evidence?

Some things sold or suggested for stuttering have little or no evidence for children.

Medicines. A systematic review of drug studies, and the researchers who critiqued it, agreed the evidence is not enough to recommend any medicine for stuttering. The NIDCD adds that no medicine is approved for it in the United States, and that medicines used off-label for it have side effects that make long-term use difficult.
Electronic devices. The NIDCD says devices that change how a person hears their own voice may help some people in the short term, and that more research is needed on whether the effect lasts and whether they work in daily life.
Telling a child how to talk. “Slow down” and “take a deep breath” are not treatment, and can make a child more aware of stuttering.
Waiting past the preschool years. Many young children stop stuttering without treatment, but the research centre notes it cannot predict which ones, and treatment gets harder with age. When to wait and when to act is set out in when to worry about stuttering.

What is the Lidcombe Program?

The Lidcombe Program is a treatment for children under 6 in which a parent, guided by a speech pathologist, comments positively on the child’s talking in short daily practice and then in everyday conversation, and rates the stuttering each day. In a New Zealand randomised trial of 54 children aged 3 to 6, published in the BMJ in 2005, treated children stuttered on 1.5 per cent of syllables after nine months against 3.9 per cent in the untreated group. A 2021 Cochrane review pooling four trials rates the certainty of that evidence as very low, and none of its trials followed children to the end of the program, so “strongest” means the most tested, not proven. How a family lives it week by week is on the Lidcombe Program page.

What are RESTART-DCM and Palin PCI?

RESTART-DCM and Palin PCI change the conditions around a young child’s talking rather than giving feedback on the stuttering itself. In RESTART-DCM, parents lower the pressure on speech, for example with a calm, unhurried pace and no interrupting, and direct speech work is added if needed. Its Dutch trial found it about as effective as the Lidcombe Program at 18 months, though slower to reduce stuttering in the first three months.

Palin PCI comes from the Michael Palin Centre in London. Parents are filmed playing with their child and learn interaction strategies from the recordings. Its evidence is small studies tracking individual children and one larger study without a randomised comparison.

What is syllable-timed speech?

Syllable-timed speech is talking in an even rhythm, giving every syllable the same stress, like a gentle beat. It reduces stuttering while it is used, and the Australian Stuttering Research Centre explains that the smoother speech then carries over into natural talking. The aim is not for the child to sound rhythmic after treatment.

The Westmead Program is the simple version for young children. The Oakville Program adds praise for smooth talking and is used more with school-aged children. The research for ages 6 to 12 is on stuttering in school-aged children.

What is the Camperdown Program?

The Camperdown Program is a speech restructuring treatment for adults and older teenagers. The person learns a new way of producing speech that stuttering does not break into, first slow and exaggerated, then shaped step by step until it sounds natural, and then uses it in real conversations they choose. Its 2024 treatment guide sets out seven stages and asks for practice daily or several times a week, 15 to 20 minutes at a time.

Two small Australian trials gave it to teenagers entirely by webcam. In the larger, stuttering roughly halved on average a year later, but the researchers concluded it was effective and efficient for only half of the teenagers. More is on stuttering in teenagers.

Does stuttering treatment work by video?

For the two most studied programs, yes. Randomised trials of the Lidcombe Program (49 children aged 3 to 5) and the Camperdown Program (40 adults) found webcam treatment about as effective as clinic treatment, and a 2021 review of children’s trials reached the same view of telehealth. More is on how stuttering therapy works by video.

Which treatments does Dr Lauren use?

Dr Lauren Crumlish (PhD) is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist who treats stuttering in children and teenagers up to 18, by video, Australia wide, and uses the Lidcombe Program. Which approach suits an older child or teenager is decided after a stuttering assessment, with the family and, for a teenager, with the teenager. Dr Lauren is a speech pathologist, not a medical doctor.

Her part is the assessment and the therapy. A GP is the first stop for a stutter that starts suddenly after a head injury or illness, and a psychologist is the right person when worry about speaking keeps a child from school or friends.

For treatment at each age, start with stuttering in children or toddlers and preschoolers. Fees and Medicare are on the fees page, and a parent or guardian can apply to work with Dr Lauren.