Attitudes of teachers towards dysfluency training and resources

Abstract

Past studies have shown that teachers have a vital role in the educational process of children who stutter (CWS) and teachers' perceptions have a significant impact on the progress of CWS. These studies suggest that there is a need for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to supply teachers with more information about stuttering. This study aimed to gather views from teachers in the United Kingdom (UK) about their current training in stuttering and their awareness of stuttering resources to support school aged CWS. It sought to investigate teachers' interest in future stuttering training and materials, including their preference for content and method of delivery. The attitudes of 72 teachers in mainstream UK schools were measured in a postal survey using a self-completed questionnaire. Teachers viewed their experience of training in stuttering to be limited either as trainee teachers or as part of their continuing professional development. Of the respondents, 43 (60%) teachers were aware of or had used a stuttering resource. Teachers expressed a positive interest in receiving stuttering training and resources in the future and the majority favoured direct contact with SLPs to deliver this training. The findings of this survey offer new information regarding teachers' views of dysfluency training and resources.

Keywords:

• Stuttering
• dysfluency
• teachers
• service delivery
• education

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Dr. Christel de Bruijn for valuable advice in preparing this manuscript; and the reviewers for their constructive comments.