Learning from negative outcomes in stuttering therapy: I. Getting off on the wrong foot

Considering the long history of research into stuttering, it is surprising that so little time has been devoted to the study of factors that contribute to the success of therapy. Even less attention has been devoted to uncovering forces that promote poor treatment outcomes. In this article and the companion piece that follows it, an attempt has been made to delineate what may prove to be predictors of unsuccessful therapy. In this first of the two articles, the focus in on the identification of patient, extraclinical, and clinician variables that could act to negate progress during the establishment phase of treatment.