The problem of stuttering has been elevated in the public consciousness by the acclaimed film, The King’s Speech, which is up for several Oscars at this weekend’s ceremony. In the film, King George VI of England battles a life-long stuttering problem and reluctantly relies on the help of speech therapist.
All the talk about this film and about stuttering has not dampened the controversy within the speech therapy field over the best approach to treating stuttering. Barry Guitar is a professor at the University of Vermont who does research and clinical work on stuttering in preschool aged children. He discusses his advocacy for "direct therapy", also called the Lidcombe method.
Note: This original, unedited interview with Barry Guitar runs about 22 minutes.