The Lidcombe Program For Stuttering, Step By Step

Lidcombe Program age: under 6, 6 to 12 and teenagers

Age	Where the Lidcombe Program sits	What the published sources say
Under 6	The usual first choice	The program was developed for this age. The Australian Stuttering Research Centre lists three approaches backed by randomised trials for children under 6 and says the strongest evidence is for the Lidcombe Program.
6 to 12	Sometimes used, with adjusted goals	The treatment guide says the program suits some children older than 6 and that its goals may need adjusting. In a 2024 trial run by video with 37 children aged 6 to 12, 12 reached the Stage 2 criteria within 12 months.
Teenagers	Another approach is used	The program was not designed for teenagers. The Australian Stuttering Research Centre describes speech restructuring as the treatment with the best evidence for teenagers who want more control over stuttering.

The treatment guide sets no minimum age for the Lidcombe Program. The children in the published trials were aged 2 to 6. For a child of 6 to 12, whether this program or another approach fits is decided after the assessment: see stuttering in school-aged children and stuttering in teenagers.

Before the Lidcombe Program starts

The Lidcombe Program starts with a decision, not with treatment. The treatment guide asks the speech pathologist to take a history, watch and listen to the child, and ask how the child reacts to stuttering: signs of struggle, frustration or avoiding talking. The speech pathologist then recommends whether the program suits the child, and agrees with the family when to begin.

The guide also tells speech pathologists to say one thing plainly at this point: the goal is for stuttering to resolve, and there is no guarantee that it will. With Dr Lauren this step is the stuttering assessment, held by video.

The first sessions: the speech pathologist shows you what to do

In the first sessions of the Lidcombe Program the speech pathologist sets the starting point and shows you, step by step, the small part you play at home. She listens to your child and shows you how to tell smooth talk from clear stuttering on the program's severity scale. Then she demonstrates the feedback with your child in a short, playful conversation.

You try it with your child while she watches and guides you. The guide notes that this may not happen in the very first session, and that the speech pathologist may keep demonstrating for several weeks before practice moves home. Feedback for stutter-free speech always comes first.

A typical week in Stage 1 of the Lidcombe Program

A week in Stage 1 of the Lidcombe Program has three parts.

• One session with the speech pathologist. Parent and child attend together, by video. She measures the stuttering, reviews the week, checks the practice and sets the plan for the next week.
• A short practice each day. Roughly a quarter of an hour, usually sitting together with a book or a game your child likes, done the way the speech pathologist has shown you. It is meant to be fun for your child, never a chore.
• A severity rating each day. At the end of the day you note one number for how your child talked across all of it, which the speech pathologist checks in the session. On the program's scale 0 means no stuttering, 1 extremely mild, and 10 the most severe stuttering you can imagine, not the worst you have heard.

Practice comes first. Once it is part of the family routine and you feel at ease with it, often a few weeks in, the speech pathologist will suggest praising smooth talking at other times too: in the car, at meals, at bath time. What a parent says, how to give the rating and what to do when a week goes badly are set out in doing the Lidcombe Program at home.

What ends Stage 1

The speech pathologist decides when Stage 1 of the Lidcombe Program is finished. The guide's mark is when the ratings sit at the bottom of the scale for three sessions running. In each of those weeks, every rating from home is a 0 or a 1, four or more of the seven are 0, and the rating the speech pathologist gives in the session is also 0 or 1.

Those numbers are a starting point, not a fixed rule. The speech pathologist may set different targets for a child who is older, or who has other speech, language or health needs.

Stage 2 of the Lidcombe Program, visit by visit

Stage 2 of the Lidcombe Program keeps stuttering absent or extremely mild while the treatment is withdrawn slowly. Sessions move further apart for as long as the ratings hold.

Stage 2 sessions	Gap between sessions
First and second	2 weeks apart
Third and fourth	4 weeks apart
Fifth and sixth	8 weeks apart
One or two more	16 weeks apart

At each Stage 2 session the speech pathologist talks with the child to agree a rating, reviews the ratings since last time and decides how much feedback should still be given. If stuttering has risen above the Stage 2 criteria, she does not take the next step: she books a session sooner, goes back a step in the schedule or, rarely, returns to Stage 1.

At home during Stage 2, the feedback becomes less and less frequent, as she directs, and you note ratings for the week before each session. If stuttering rises a little, she will have shown you how to bring the feedback back for a while.

The guide says Stage 2 usually takes around 12 months or more. Stuttering can come back after the program, sometimes years later, and ending Stage 2 early because a child sounds fine makes that more likely. That is why the speech pathologist keeps watching the ratings through Stage 2, and shows the family what to look for and when to contact her between visits.

The year ahead, and what the research shows

For a family starting now, the Lidcombe Program is a commitment of a year or more. The 2021 Cochrane review describes it as designed to last one to two years in total, and the Stage 2 schedule above accounts for most of that time.

Question	What research found
How long is Stage 1?	In treatment records from Australia, the United Kingdom and North America (450 children), the midpoint was 11 visits. Children whose stuttering was more severe at the start took longer.
When does change show?	The Australian Stuttering Research Centre says some improvement should be noticeable soon after treatment starts.
Does it work?	Randomised trials favour it. A 2021 Cochrane review rates the certainty of that evidence as very low, so it is the best-supported option at this age rather than a proven one.

None of these figures is a forecast for one child, and no number of sessions is promised. How the evidence compares with other treatments is set out in stuttering treatment compared.

When the Lidcombe Program is not the first choice

The Lidcombe Program does not suit every child who stutters, or every family, at every time.

• Teenagers. The program was built for young children. Other approaches are used in the high school years.
• Some school-aged children. It can be adapted from 6 to 12, but about two thirds of the children in the 2024 trial had not reached the Stage 2 criteria at 12 months.
• A family that cannot fit in daily practice right now. The program needs the short daily practice to work. The guide has the speech pathologist and family choose the best time to begin. One review of 250 children found that a short delay after stuttering started in the preschool years did not lengthen treatment.
• A parent who would prefer another approach. Two other approaches for children under 6 have support from randomised trials. They are described in stuttering treatment compared.

Who you would work with

Every Lidcombe Program session described on this page would be with Dr Lauren Crumlish, a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist whose PhD is from The University of Queensland. She assesses your child, sets the goals, runs the sessions, measures progress and decides when to move on. She works with stuttering from the preschool years through to 18, and the Lidcombe Program is the approach she uses with young children. She is a speech pathologist, not a medical doctor.

Dr Lauren works with a small number of families and has limited availability. Read more about Dr Lauren Crumlish, or Apply Now.

Sources

• The Lidcombe Program Treatment Guide, version 1.7c (August 2025)
• Australian Stuttering Research Centre: Treatment for stuttering
• Jones and others (2005), randomised trial of the Lidcombe Program, BMJ
• Sjøstrand and others (2021), Cochrane review of stuttering treatment in children aged six and younger
• Jones and others (2000), predicting treatment time in the Lidcombe Program
• Kingston and others (2003), Lidcombe Program treatment time in the United Kingdom
• Koushik and others (2011), Lidcombe Program treatment time in North America
• Johnson and others (2024), Lidcombe Program by telehealth for children aged 6 to 12