The Effect of Bibliotherapy on Speech Fluency in Children With Stuttering: A Single-Subject Study; [ریثأتینامردباتکربدوبهبیناورراتفگناکدوکالتبمهب:تنکلیهعلاطمدرومدرفنم] Publisher

Summary: Can reading-based therapy ease childhood stuttering? A single-case study observed improved speech fluency during bibliotherapy, but larger studies are needed. #Stuttering #SpeechTherapy

Mohajeri Z ; Shafiei B ; Rahimi A ; Nouri R
Source: Journal of Isfahan Medical School Published:2026

Abstract

Background: Stuttering is a common speech disorder in children that can have a profound impact on their quality of life. Among modern therapeutic methods, bibliotherapy is considered an indirect and attractive intervention; however, there is limited empirical evidence regarding its effectiveness on the speech fluency of children with stuttering. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of bibliotherapy on improving speech fluency in the form of a single-subject design on a child with stuttering. Methods: This study was conducted in the form of a single-subject design with an A-B-A model. The participant was a stuttering child from the age group C in Isfahan city who was selected using a convenience sampling method. Bibliotherapy intervention was implemented for her at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. No intervention was performed in the two basic phases (A) (before and after the intervention) and the intervention was applied only in phase (B). The severity of stuttering was measured and recorded in all phases using the SSI-4 tool. Findings: The findings showed that before the intervention, the studied variables, i.e., the percentage of stuttered syllables (SS%) and the stuttering rate (SR) in two modes of reading from the text and conversational speech, had an upward trend, but with the implementation of bibliotherapy sessions and in the intervention phase, the trend decrease and the high percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) also indicate the effectiveness of the intervention. Conclusion: The results indicated that bibliotherapy effectively enhanced speech fluency in the studied sample and resulted in a decrease in the severity of stuttering. There is no doubt that the results of this study, considering its limitations, are not enough to definitively confirm the effectiveness of bibliotherapy intervention on children's stuttering, and further studies will be helpful in this regard. © 2026, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.