Attitudes of Turkish speech and language therapists toward stuttering

Abstract

PurposeThe study sought to identify clinical beliefs and attitudes of speech and language therapists (SLTs) in Turkey and to compare them to previous research on SLTs in the USA and UK. MethodThe Clinician Attitudes Toward Stuttering (CATS) inventory was administered by mail to nearly all-practicing SLTs in Turkey (n=61). ResultsTurkish SLTs, whose caseloads contained a substantial number of people who stutter, agreed with CATS items suggesting psychological causes and problems for those who stutter. They strongly believed therapy should focus on parent counseling for preschoolers who stutter as well as adolescents. They were not optimistic about carrying out stuttering therapy nor about the likelihood that children who stutter could be effectively treated. ConclusionAttitudes toward stuttering by clinicians who treat them are important considerations in the conduct and outcomes of stuttering therapy. Additionally, SLTs working with stuttering clients should benefit from professional views and clinical experiences of their colleagues from surveys such as this one.Educational objectives: The reader will be able to describe: (a) the components of the CATS, (b) common themes in Turkish speech and language therapists’ attitudes toward stuttering, (c) differences between the attitudes of speech and language therapists from Turkey versus the United States and the United Kingdom.