باورهای معلمان در مقابل غیرمعلمان در مورد افرادی که لکنت زبان دارند

Purpose Although prior research has investigated teachers’ beliefs about people who stutter (PWS), this work has not indicated how these beliefs compare with those of the general public or taken into account key demographic variables that may be related to these beliefs. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate whether beliefs about PWS in teachers are different from those in the general public. The second purpose of this study was to examine whether gender is related to beliefs about PWS for teachers, who are more frequently women. Methods Analyses were based on questionnaire responses regarding beliefs about PWS from 269 teachers and 1388 non-teachers in the United States. Due to their potential link to beliefs about PWS, familiarity with PWS and sociodemographic variables were included in the statistical model for this study. Results Teachers’ beliefs about PWS are no different than those of people in non-teaching professions. Findings also indicated that, regardless of whether respondents were teachers, women had more accurate beliefs about PWS than men. The statistical model tested indicated that beliefs about PWS were more accurate when the respondents were older, had more education, and had familiarity with a PWS. Conclusion In the first study to compare teachers’ beliefs about PWS to the general public, findings indicated that teachers are no more accurate than the public in their beliefs about PWS. Associations found between these beliefs and several variables may indicate some promising mechanisms for improving beliefs, such as increased familiarity with individuals who stutter. Educational Objectives: Readers should be able to: (a) describe stuttering's potential effects on children's participation in the school setting; (b) identify actions teachers can take to improve the school experience of their students who stutter; (c) summarize findings regarding teachers’ beliefs about people who stutter (PWS); (d) identify key variables that are associated with beliefs about PWS.

Although often described according to its observable speech characteristics, the experience of stuttering may be more fully understood, as suggested by Yaruss and Quesal (2004), within the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) framework (World Health Organization, 2001). This framework helps, among other things, to characterize how stuttering impacts participation in society. Considering this ICF framework for a child who stutters, the experience of stuttering at school and in other settings may result in negative affective, behavioral, and cognitive reactions (Boyle, 2013, Corcoran and Stewart, 1998, Crichton-Smith, 2002, Daniels et al., 2012, Hayhow et al., 2002 and Klompas and Ross, 2004). Some of these reactions come internally, from the child who stutters. On the other hand, some of the negative reactions are external to the child, coming from teachers or peers in the classroom. Although both reactions, internal and external to the child, may reduce quality of life (Yaruss, 2010 and Yaruss and Quesal, 2004), the focus of this study is on an external component, beliefs held by others about people who stutter (PWS). Inaccurate beliefs about PWS are important because they may result in experiences of discrimination and role entrapment (Gabel et al., 2008 and Klein and Hood, 2004). For the disorder of stuttering and PWS, inaccurate beliefs by the public abound (Craig et al., 2003, Doody et al., 1993 and Hughes et al., 2010). For example, Craig and his colleagues (2003) indicated that the public believes PWS are shy,1 self-conscious, anxious, and lacking in confidence. Similarly, in an interview study of United States (US) college students, prominent themes indicated that they believe PWS are frustrated, impatient, angry, annoying, shy, or disabled in learning (Hughes et al., 2010). The public's inaccurate beliefs are likely to be particularly influential for the youngest PWS, children who stutter. In research on racial identity, children's beliefs about their own differences are highly susceptible to their social context (Spencer, 1984 and Spencer and Markstrom-Adams, 1990). For children, part of that social context is their school setting, in which teachers are central figures. Teachers’ beliefs, even when expressed in implicit, non-verbal ways, can influence the beliefs of their students (Vezzali, Giovannini, & Capozza, 2012). Ideally, teachers can counteract the potentially negative effects that inaccurate public beliefs about stuttering may have on their students who stutter. This calls for an investigation of whether teachers’ beliefs about stuttering are more accurate than those of the general public. Since at least the early 1980s, researchers have found the question of teachers’ beliefs (i.e., attitudes, perceptions, etc.) about stuttering to be important (Crowe and Walton, 1981, Dorsey and Guenther, 2000, Irani and Gabel, 2008, Lass et al., 1994, Lass et al., 1992, Ruscello et al., 1994 and Yeakle and Cooper, 1986). This has likely been a topic of interest because teachers are the primary figures within the school setting, which is a place where children spend a lot of time per week (Juster, Ono, & Stafford, 2004). The years children spend in school constitute a period of many changes. For example, during adolescence there are many changes in brain structure that impact physiological and emotional functioning. The trajectory of this development can be affected by stressors along the way, which can have enduring effects on the brain (see Eiland & Romeo, 2013, for review). Thus, given their developmental sensitivity during this wide time range of school attendance, children's school experiences, including interactions with teachers, are likely to be influential. The importance of school experiences is consistent with themes that have emerged from the self-reports of PWS (Corcoran and Stewart, 1998, Crichton-Smith, 2002, Daniels et al., 2012, Hayhow et al., 2002 and Klompas and Ross, 2004). Daniels et al. (2012), who gathered qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with PWS, reported that for 90% of their 21 respondents, stuttering impacted their classroom participation, academics, and learning, from kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12). For example, some PWS reported that anxiety about reading aloud or speaking in class diverted their attention from learning (Daniels et al., 2012). In a mail-based questionnaire study by Hayhow and colleagues (2002), PWS belonging to the British Stammering Association indicated the degree to which stuttering affected their lives in school and other areas. Respondents were also asked to provide examples for how stuttering had affected these life experiences. Of the 332 PWS who responded, 95% reported that stuttering affected them at school, with 56% of the total sample indicating the extent of the effect was “a lot” and 39% indicating “a bit” (Hayhow et al., 2002). These studies also highlight the teacher's role in children's school experiences. Most of the Daniels et al. (2012) respondents, who mentioned experiences with teachers in school, indicated they were either neutral or positive. However, there was at least one respondent who reported negative experiences with teachers. Hayhow and colleagues indicated that many of their respondents reported “feeling that their difficulties were not understood by teachers” (p. 5). One respondent in their study reported, “Teachers stopped asking me to read because my blocks were too long.” Negative or neutral school experiences may have long-term consequences for children who stutter. Research has shown that stuttering severity is significantly related to fewer years of educational attainment (O’Brian, Jones, Packman, Menzies, & Onslow, 2011). Although there is not enough evidence to establish a causal relationship between stuttering severity and years of educational attainment, the correlational relationship suggests the importance of examining the role the people in the educational environment play in the lives of students who stutter. Many of the negative school experiences reported by PWS related to reading aloud or other forms of speaking in front of groups (Daniels et al., 2012 and Hayhow et al., 2002). Thus, it is important to note that public speaking requirements in the classroom are on the rise in the US. The speaking tasks encouraged by the Common Core Standard Initiative include specific requirements for students to “use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation” (2012). Therefore, communication demands in the school environment for children, including those who stutter, may be becoming more challenging. It is important to consider what can be done to support students who stutter in their attempts to meet these demands during this crucial stage in their development. Teachers have the potential to play a role in encouraging their students who stutter to attempt these speaking tasks (Glickman, 2010), making accommodations to grading criteria or task demands, or implementing a combination of these approaches (Scott, 2009). For example, Scott (2009) advises teachers of students who stutter to provide opportunities for the student to talk, praising the student for the ideas expressed. A proactive approach such as this facilitates inclusion of students who stutter within the educational setting, while increasing the chances that the student will experience communication success. However, when teachers have inaccurate beliefs about PWS, such as believing PWS are nervous or fearful, they may not take such a proactive approach to including their students in classroom speaking tasks. 1.1. Teachers’ beliefs about PWS Past findings of teachers’ beliefs about stuttering are mixed. Prior studies that asked teachers to indicate their beliefs about stuttering's etiology, the traits of PWS, and the potential for PWS to succeed in school and work, reported that many teachers had beliefs about PWS that were inaccurate (Crowe and Walton, 1981, Lass et al., 1994, Lass et al., 1992, Ruscello et al., 1994 and Yeakle and Cooper, 1986). A more recent questionnaire study by Irani and Gabel (2008), which assessed teachers’ beliefs about the traits of PWS, indicated that teachers rated a hypothetical PWS as more intelligent, more sincere, and more physically normal than a hypothetical person who does not stutter (PWNS). This departure from prior findings calls for further investigation of teachers’ beliefs about PWS, particularly because it would be important to know about a wider range of beliefs than those related to traits of PWS. That is, even if teachers believe that their students who stutter are more intelligent than their non-stuttering peers, teachers may still believe that stuttering will limit their students’ career options and potential to succeed in various areas of life. Thus, it is important to have a better understanding of a wider range of beliefs, including beliefs about the cause of stuttering, the people who can help PWS, and the potential for PWS to experience social and occupational success. One important methodological limitation of the prior research is that teachers’ beliefs about stuttering have not been compared to the beliefs of those in the general public. That is, previous findings of teachers’ beliefs about PWS and stuttering do not tell us about the societal context of their beliefs. Only with a comparison group of people who are not K-12 teachers is it possible to know whether teachers’ beliefs are more or less accurate than those of the general public. Ideally, teachers’ beliefs about PWS are more accurate than those of people in other occupations. Based on the preceding review, teachers must go beyond serving in a neutral role. In order to be a positive and supportive force in the school environment for their students who stutter, teachers must have the knowledge that enables them to take proactive measures to improve the ability of students who stutter to fully participate in academic and social aspects of education. In addition, although some of the prior work has taken into account respondent familiarity with PWS (Yeakle & Cooper, 1986) and demographic variables such as age and education (Crowe and Walton, 1981 and Irani and Gabel, 2008), none have tested familiarity, age, education, and gender together within a single model. As reviewed below, there is evidence that these variables may all be linked to beliefs about PWS and need to be considered when comparing teachers to the general public. 1.2. Gender differences in teachers’ beliefs about PWS The population of teachers is comprised more of females than males (Sparks, 2012). This is particularly interesting because the population of PWS is comprised more of males than females (see Bloodstein & Bernstein Ratner, 2008, for review). For this reason, it is important to consider the possibility of gender differences in beliefs about PWS. The evidence for gender differences in beliefs about PWS in the general population is considerably mixed. Some studies have indicated that men are more apt to have negative beliefs about stuttering than women (Burley and Rinaldi, 1986, Schlagheck et al., 2009 and Weisel and Spektor, 1998). In one study by Burley and Rinaldi (1986), men rated recorded speech samples of PWS more negatively than women. Another study indicated that men, compared to women, made more negative and fewer positive comments about the characteristics of PWS (Schlagheck et al., 2009). In contrast, other studies indicate that gender is not associated with beliefs about PWS (Patterson and Pring, 1991, St. Louis, 2012a and Van Borsel et al., 2011). For example, Patterson and Pring (1991) sought to replicate Burley and Rinaldi's (1986) study in which men and women rated speech samples of PWS, but added the task of rating speech samples of typically fluent speakers. Patterson and Pring's results indicated no gender differences in ratings of speech samples. This finding of no gender differences was supported by St. Louis's (2012a) study of questionnaire responses from 50 men and 50 women. One reason for the variance in findings may be that gender differences in beliefs about PWS depend upon other characteristics of the men and women in the sample that were not examined. For example, men who become teachers may be subtly different from men who seek out other professions in ways that impact beliefs about PWS. However, the question of gender differences in beliefs about PWS has not been assessed among teachers. Outside the stuttering literature, there is some evidence that male teachers view male students’ behavior more positively than female teachers do (Dee, 2005 and Mullola et al., 2012). Given that more children who stutter are male than female (Bloodstein & Bernstein Ratner, 2008), this tendency among male teachers to judge male students more positively may mean that male teachers have more positive beliefs about PWS than female teachers, which is the opposite of the gender difference that would be expected based on some of the previous studies of the general population (Burley and Rinaldi, 1986, Schlagheck et al., 2009 and Weisel and Spektor, 1998). 1.3. Sociodemographic covariates In order to test for differences based on teacher occupation (i.e., teacher status) and gender, it is important to take into account sociodemographic variables believed to be associated with beliefs about PWS. Because there is some evidence that respondent age (Al-Khaledi et al., 2009, de Britto Pereira et al., 2008, Ming et al., 2001 and Van Borsel et al., 1999) and education (de Britto Pereira et al., 2008 and St. Louis et al., 2014) are related to beliefs about stuttering, we included these as covariates in this study. We also accounted for familiarity with PWS as there is some evidence, although at times conflicting, that familiarity is associated with respondents’ beliefs about PWS (Betz et al., 2008, Boyle et al., 2009, Crowe and Cooper, 1977, Crowe and Walton, 1981, Doody et al., 1993, Hurst and Cooper, 1983, Irani and Gabel, 2008, Schlagheck et al., 2009, Yairi and Williams, 1970 and Yeakle and Cooper, 1986). Including these covariates in the model was particularly important given the observational nature of the study, which was not able to ensure equivalence between groups for these variables. 1.4. Purpose of the study In summary, previous literature indicates that school experiences are important for PWS. However, it remains unknown whether teachers, who are central figures in the school experience, have more accurate beliefs about PWS than the general public. Therefore, the first purpose of this study was to evaluate whether beliefs about stuttering and PWS in K-12 teachers, based on responses to the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes – Stuttering (St. Louis, 2012b), are significantly different from non-teachers. To allow for a more valid comparison, the present study is the first to assess differences based on teacher status while taking the following personal characteristics into account: age, years of education, and familiarity with PWS. Because of teacher training and greater exposure to disabilities in recent years, we would predict that teachers’ beliefs toward stuttering and PWS would be more accurate than those of their non-teacher counterparts. Also, because of the greater number of women than men in the profession of teaching (Sparks, 2012), and evidence from at least some studies that gender of respondents is related to beliefs about PWS (Burley and Rinaldi, 1986, de Britto Pereira et al., 2008 and Weisel and Spektor, 1998), the second purpose of this study was to examine whether gender is related to beliefs about PWS for teachers. We believe that our findings provide new and important information that will help design interventions for improving the degree to which the external environment encourages individuals who stutter to fully participate in society.