Parental Beliefs about Stammering and Experiences of the Therapy Process: An On-line Survey in Conjunction with the British Stammering Association

Abstract This study investigated beliefs and perceptions parents have regarding their young child's stammering and their views and experiences of therapy. It is known that parents are often anxious about their child's stammering (e.g. Langevin, Packman and Onslow, 2010) and that it can have an impact on family life. Parents are often expected to have a role to play in therapy, yet there has been little in terms of large-scale research seeking more about parental experiences of having a child who stammers. An on-line survey was devised and sent out to parents via the British Stammering Association (BSA). Recruitment to the study was broad to encourage parents from a variety of backgrounds to the complete the survey, and to try to access parents who may not have had any professional advice or therapy. The questionnaire was developed from themes emerging from parent studies using qualitative methodology (e.g. Glogowska and Campbell, 2000 ; Goodhue, Onslow, Quine, O’Brian and Hearne, 2010; Hayhow, 2009; Plexico and Burrus, 2012 ;) with questions categorised into 6 main areas: beliefs about causes of stammering, level of concern, information seeking, strategies used to support their child, views of assessment and views of therapy. Quantitative and qualitative data from 69 parents of children who stammer (aged 10 years and under) are reported. The results revealed that parents had high levels of concern about the impact of stammering on their child; most did not know the causes of stammering or put it down to an environmental cause; and they employed a range of strategies to support their child. Most parents sought out speech and language therapy, but many experienced difficulties in accessing this support. Their experiences of therapy highlighted how important therapy was for the parent as much as for the child and that the support should come from a suitably trained and experienced specialist therapist.