Background & Purpose
Stuttering is a persistent communication condition that affects approximately 4-8% of children in Ireland. For most children, it impacts negatively on many aspects of their lives including their participation in daily living activities, their mental wellbeing, and their capacity to form relationships with others. There is limited literature on the lived experience of stuttering for children, despite acknowledgement by researchers and clinicians of the need for such patient-based evidence to inform clinical decision-making and stuttering interventions. The integration of such knowledge will facilitate the delivery of person-centred and meaningful stuttering interventions, thus enhancing intervention outcomes and ultimately the quality of life of children who stutter.
Objective
This project aims to explore and document the lived experience of stuttering for children in an Irish context. This will ensure their voices are adequately represented in the stuttering literature.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews will be completed with 10-12 children who stutter. Interview questions will be developed following a review of the literature on the impact of stuttering on children’s lives, including social, emotional and educational impacts. Reflexive thematic analysis will be used to analyse the data.
Results
Specific themes and subthemes representing the lived experience of stuttering for children will be identified. Results will be communicated to a range of stakeholder groups including researchers, speech and language therapists (SLTs), and children who stutter and their parents. The lead applicant will gain experience in research processes, methodologies, and dissemination activities.
Conclusion
This project will illustrate the impact that stuttering has on a child’s life, and contribute valuable patient-based evidence to the stuttering literature. SLTs working with this client group will gain insight into the multifaceted impact of this communication condition, thus ensuring their intervention is meaningful and individually-tailored to a child’s specific goals.