The knowledge of a panel of experts for diagnosing incipient stuttering and for recommending their appropriate clinical management was gathered during Phase I of this project. Phase II will (1) construct a computer-based expert system that represents the expert panel's knowledge (2) systematically compare the output of the expert system with the diagnostic consensus of the panel as well as the diagnostic conclusions of each panel member with that of every other member, and (3) evaluate the system's ease of access and use by samples of its intended users. At the conclusion of Phase II, expert knowledge about the onset of stuttering and its early management will be programmed into two versions of Second Opinion, one for speech-language clinicians and the other for students in training.
