Not So Simple, and Not So Fast: The Limits of Speech Rate and Turn-Taking Modifications for Treatment of Early Stuttering. A Response to Onslow et al. (2026).

PURPOSE: We argue against suggestions for a new "two-factor" approach to early stuttering that counsels rate and turn-taking adjustments to child-directed parental speech.

CONCLUSION

We find that (a) the suggested approach is not new; (b) the limited pilot data are directly contradicted by a much larger scale, longer duration study published in this journal this year that shows no relationships between rate and turn-taking and recovery from stuttering; (c) rate and turn-taking adjustments may bring with them additional negative changes in parental speech; and (d) the proposed treatment continues to emphasize the role of parents in determining recovery from stuttering, a belief with insufficient evidence and which carries potential harm.