THE COMPARISON OF EASY ONSET AND PANTOMIMING TREATMENT ON BLOCKING IN STAMMERING

Background: Stammering is a speech fluency disorder categorized by repetitions, prolongations and blocks that interrupt the normal flow and forward movement of speech. The Fluency shaping techniques including Easy Onset and Pantomiming treatment are commonly used techniques for the management of stuttering. Objective: To compare the effectiveness of Pantomiming and easy onset method for the treatment of blocks in stammering in school aged children. Material & Method: A randomized control trial (NCT04813588) was conducted in hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The Convenient sampling technique was used for data collection from National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM). The sample size was n=16, randomly divided in Easy onset (n=8) and Pantomiming (n=8) through lottery method. The schools going children and adolescent between 6-18 years of both genders with mild to moderate stammering with blocking symptoms were included. The severity of stuttering was assessed with real time analysis of speech fluency. The data was analysed at the baseline and after three months of intervention. The non-parametric tests were applied for within and between group analyses. Results: The mean age of the participants was 10.38±5.290 years. A total n=11 were males and n=5 were females. When compared both groups, there was no significant difference between Easy onset and Pantomiming technique {MR=9 vs MR=8, U=28, p=0.535} in the management of stuttering after three months of intervention. Conclusion: The easy onset and pantomiming techniques are equally effective in improving the blocking in stuttering. Keywords: Blocks, easy onset, fluency shaping, pantomiming, speech therapy, stammering, stuttering