Talking to parents about the cause of stuttering S8E33

In this week’s episode, Jess speaks with Professor Mark Onslow, Director of the Australian Stuttering Research Centre at the University of Technology in Sydney. Mark discusses practical strategies for clinicians who find themselves needing to answer the question, “why did my child start to stutter?”

Resources:

Franken, M. C., Hearne, A., Jelčić Jakšić, S., Neef, N. E., & Onslow, M. (2025). Contemporary clinical conversations about stuttering: Telling parents why their child began to stutter. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 1-6.

Anderson, J., Lowe, R., Yandeau, E., Parolini, M., & Onslow, M. (2026). Contemporary clinical conversations about stuttering: How to keep up with stuttering treatment research. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 28(2), 298-302.

Stuttering and its clinical management: Twelve lectures: https://www.uts.edu.au/globalassets/shared-media/documents/research/australian-stuttering-research-centre/stuttering-and-its-clinical-management---12-lectures_2026-02-01.pdf

Australian Stuttering Research Centre: https://www.uts.edu.au/research/centres/australian-stuttering-research-centre

SPA resources:

Stuttering Management Position Statement: https://speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/resource?resource=105

Stuttering Management Practice Guideline: https://speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/resource?resource=142

Restart-DCM course 2027: https://learninghub.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/topclass/topclass.do?expand-OfferingDetails-Offeringid=1842194

Speech Pathology Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of lands, seas and waters throughout Australia, and offers our respect to Elders, across all times and places. The Speak Up podcast recognises the central role of yarning and oral storytelling in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, how this translates to knowledge translation, and that colonisation has interrupted these practices of Language and knowledge sharing. The Speak Up podcast acknowledges the need for truth-telling and deep listening, the central role that Language plays in connecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People with Culture, Country, and Community, and the interwoven nature of health, and social and emotional wellbeing. We recognise that the Traditional Owners of the Lands across Australia have been here since time immemorial, and that their sovereignty over this land, was never ceded.

Free access to transcripts are available via the SPA Learning Hub (https://le