The presentation will focus on the role of temperament of the client, the parents, and the clinician in stuttering clinical practice. Key research findings on the role of temperament in stuttering will be discussed, and the impact of the temperament and personality traits of all key team members (child who stutters, parents, clinician) on the therapeutic relationship, choice of treatment methods, management of therapy expectations, and overall treatment effectiveness will be examined.
 
Learning Objectives:
Participants will:
1 Describe the different dimensions of temperament.
2 Provide examples of methods for assessing temperament in children and adults.
3 Summarize ways stuttering therapy can be tailored to the child’s and the parents’ needs by taking their temperament into account. 
4 Explain how clinicians’ temperament could influence their clinical practice.

Target Audience: Speech-Language Pathologists, Graduate Students, Parents of children who stutter

Katerina Ntourou, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychological Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her research interests include the role of temperament in stuttering and the protective and risk factors underlying the development of anxiety in stuttering.