Beyond Stuttering: Speech-Language Pathologists' Perceptions of Therapy for Children Who Stutter With Concomitant Speech and Language Needs

PURPOSE: Stuttering therapy is complex, addressing speech, cognitive, affective, and social factors. Children who stutter often present with co-occurring speech and language disorders. Historically, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have reported less comfort with stuttering treatment compared with other speech and language disorders. The current study used a combined quantitative and qualitative approach to investigate SLPs' perceptions of the therapy they provide to an individual child who stutters with one or more concomitant disorders on their caseload. METHOD: Forty-five SLPs completed a survey describing their therapy for an individual child who stutters with at least one concomitant disorder. SLPs provided separate ratings of how well the child's stuttering therapy and therapy for concomitant needs were going, along with written rationales for each rating. RESULTS: Ratings of therapy were generally positive; however, quantitative analysis indicated that therapy for concomitant needs was more likely to be rated as going "very well" and less likely to be rated as "sometimes poorly and sometimes well" compared with stuttering therapy. Qualitative analysis revealed that SLPs' ratings of concomitant therapy reflected positive child attributes (e.g., motivation), well-established therapy processes, and consistent positive progress. CONCLUSIONS: This study extended prior work on perceptions of stuttering and concomitant communication disorders by focusing on individual children who stutter. Although SLPs viewed both therapies positively overall, perceptions were comparatively more favorable for concomitant therapy. Child-level factors and consistent progress emerged as important influences of SLPs' perception of concomitant therapy.