Investigating the beliefs and attitudes of teachers towards students who stutter

Abstract

With the study reported on here we aimed to investigate teachers’ beliefs and attitudes towards students who stutter. These aspects were investigated through a questionnaire developed for the study. A total of 382 Saudi teachers from public and private schools from different educational levels were included in this questionnaire-based study. The results show that most respondents believed that there was a high prevalence of stuttering in the general population. Male teachers had a better understanding of persons who stutter (PWS) than female teachers. Senior teachers had better insight into stuttering. The teachers commonly had a positive opinion of PWS. Participants reported that few sources on education about and experiences with PWS were available to them. The results confirm that the teachers had reasonably good knowledge about stuttering. The results show that the teachers knew about stuttering, that they also knew about the consequences of stuttering and the way in which these children should be treated in class. The teachers possessed knowledge and had a positive attitude towards children who stutter (CWS). The findings show a change in perspectives towards CWS as a positive impact of the media.