Effectiveness of mind simulation on stuttering in a patient with spastic diplegia: A case report

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a non-progressive brain lesion that causes impaired muscle coordination. Diplegia is a type of limb paralysis that usually involves the symmetry organs, with the involvement of lower organs being more than the upper organs. Patients with diplegia have a type of secondary muscle tension dysphonia due to speech-breathing disorders and speech problems including stuttering. This study is conducted aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of the mind simulation method on improving stuttering in a patient with spastic diplegia. CASE REPORT: The patient was an 11-year-old boy diagnosed with spastic diplegia with stuttering disorder and had long been treated with chlorsospasm and was selected by purposive sampling method. After 21 days of assessment in the baseline stage (A), he was treated with mind simulation (B) for 10 weeks. Evaluations were carried out every 10 days and totally, 7 evaluations were carried out. Data were analyzed in a reversal design through visual method, chart slope analysis, and comparison of subjects' mean performance at baseline and intervention stages using SPSS software. CONCLUSION: The primary outcomes showed that the simulation method was associated with decreased stuttering in the patient (P < 0.01). The secondary outcomes showed decreasing scores of frequency indices, delay, movements of hand, head, face, body, mouth, and psychological factors in Stuttering Severity Instrument (SSI) (P < 0.01). The findings of this study indicated that the use of the mind simulation method as a complementary intervention could be associated with a decrease in stuttering symptoms in patients with spastic diplegia