Palin Parent Child Interaction Therapy for Early Childhood Stammering

Palin Parent Child Interaction therapy is an early intervention approach that was designed for stammering and has been adapted for use with children with other speech and language needs, as well as with children and other adults e.g. education staff/carers. The transferable skills taught in this course include engaging parents in the assessment and therapy process; communicating complex and/or sensitive information to parents; using video feedback to develop parents’ confidence and skills; and addressing wider child management issues with parents, e.g. emotional, behavioural issues. These skills are applicable with a wide range of clinical contexts and caseloads.

This three-day workshop is particularly suited to student SLTs close to qualification and to newly qualified therapists and to overseas therapists who may benefit from the pace of the course being slightly gentler and from additional skills practice time.

NOTE: The workshop will be supported by video demonstrations of therapy at the Michael Palin Centre as well as skills practice and discussion.

Kevin Paul Fower

He has been working at The Michael Palin Center since 2009, and his job description includes working with stuttering children, teenagers, adults and their families. He works in both national and international educational programs and currently prepares two studies for publication, examining what has changed during the therapy process. Kevin FOWER, who is also one of the RCSLT (Royal College Language-Speech Therapists) Research Champion, is the coordinator of the National Fluency Clinical Excellence Network.

Professional Memberships

Royal College of Speech and language therapists Member Number: RC0023264
Health CareProfessions Council Member Number: SL20975

Academic Life

2014–2016 Research Masters in Applied Research in Human Communication Disorders, University College London, UK
2004–2006 Post-Graduate Diploma in Speech and Language Therapy City University London, UK

Professional Experience

2009 – ongoing The Michael Palin Center for Stammering, London, UK
2007–2009 Early Years Speech and Language Therapy Service, Islington, London, UK

Other Professional Roles

2016 - ongoing Honorary Research Assistant, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, UK
2016 – ongoing Study Day Coordinator, National Dysfluency Clinical Excellence Network, UK

Conference Presentations

September 2017 "What can we learn from parents of stuttering children?" Oxford Dysfluency Conference, Oxford, UK
September 2017 "Stuttering and COM-B model: Parents 'views on changes in communication behavior after therapy' Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Conference" Glasgow, UK
June 2018 "Palin PCI: Parent-Child Interaction: XXXI Congreso Internacional de AELFA-IF", Granada, Spain
June 2018 "Change and COM-B model: Exploring the factors that lead to change": Joint World Congress, Hiroshima, Japan
September 2019 "What is the change? Effects of intensive group therapy on stuttering youth ': Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Conference Birmingham, UK

Course Outcomes

• Gain skills in assessing and identifying those children who are at risk of more persistent problems, as well as in the treatment of early stammering.
• Learn the assessment and management of this age group and is potentially applicable for children up to 7 years of age.
• Practice their skills and discuss how they can improve.

Program Flow

• A Multi-Factor Stuttering Model A brief literature update — recent studies on factors contributing to stuttering; risk factors in young children who stutter; types of interaction & stuttering
• A screening tool used to decide how prone the language-speech disorder is to be permanent and the appropriate care/treatment options
• Assessment of Children - a short measure of stuttering
• Taking a case history, determining the factors affecting the child's stuttering and child-specific needs

• PALIN Parent-Child Interaction Principles
• PALIN PCI: Interaction Strategies - the use of video in parent-child interaction therapy
• PALIN PCI: Family Strategies - confidence-boosting, turn taking, emotion management
• Skills to work collaboratively with parents, using parent packs as well
• Brief summary of the effectiveness of PALIN PCI studies

• PALIN PCI: Children's Strategies including direct fluency therapy
• Management of accompanying language and speech disorders
• Care Options: Serving children under 7 who stutter
• Creating an Action Plan