Jannet A. Wright

Attitudes of Speech and Language Therapists towards Stammering: 1985 and 2000.

BACKGROUNDnPast research has indicated that speech and language therapists hold some negative attitudes towards people who stammer, their parents and the treatment of stammering. However, studies on attitudes towards stammering have predominantly focussed on therapists in the USA. Recent trends towards earlier intervention suggest that more therapists in the UK will be involved in working with stammering.nnnAIMSnThis study aimed to gather current attitudes of therapists in the UK and to compare them with attitudes measured 15 years previously. It also considered the impact of postgraduate training on attitudes and examined the attitudes of therapists trained in the Lidcombe Programme.nnnMETHODS & PROCEDURESnThe attitudes of 261 speech and language therapists were measured in a postal survey using the Clinician Attitudes Toward Stuttering (CATS) Inventory.nnnOUTCOMES & RESULTSnThe survey revealed an increase in positive attitudes towards early intervention and a reduction in negative attitudes towards people who stammer since the CATS inventory was carried out in 1985. An analysis of generalist and specialist attitudes revealed that generalists were unsure about appropriate treatments to use with people who stammer. Therapists trained in the Lidcombe Programme held some different attitudes about early intervention, people who stammer and the treatment of stammering; however, they continued to view parental counselling as a critical factor in the treatment of the preschool child.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe survey indicated that although therapists were more positive about some aspects of stammering, the treatment of stammering remains a complex issue. All therapists working with clients who stammer would therefore benefit from undertaking ongoing professional development in this area such as additional training, liaison with colleagues and joining a special interest group.

Teachers and therapists: the evolution of a partnership:

Collaboration between people from different professional groups is never easy, especially when they are employed by two different statutory services. In a study of teachers and speech and language therapists (Wright, 1994), the benefits of working collaboratively could be cate gorized as altruistic, personal or professional. Reciprocity between collaborating dyads was much more common around the acquisition of new knowledge, or cognitive gain, as a result of working together than of any other factor. This suggests that, whether people are conscious of it or not, collaboration can produce an important exchange of information. This has implications for professional education as well as for service delivery.

Perceptions of speech and language therapy amongst UK school and college students: implications for recruitment

BACKGROUNDnCommunication disorders affect both sexes and people from all ethnic groups, but members of minority ethnic groups and males in the UK are underrepresented in the speech and language therapy profession. Research in the area of recruitment is limited, but a possible explanation is poor awareness and understanding of speech and language therapy as a profession.nnnAIMSnTo investigate factors influencing attitudes to a career in speech and language therapy amongst UK school and college students focusing on the similarities and differences between males and females, and between minority ethnic and white students.nnnMETHODS & PROCEDURESnA total of 651 male and female school and college students from a range of ethnic groups and all close to selecting degree courses completed a questionnaire designed to examine the attitudes and awareness of speech and language therapy. Eleven semi-structured follow-up interviews were conducted to help understand the questionnaire findings. Quantitative and qualitative analyses examined differences in attitudes and the awareness of speech and language therapy amongst these groups.nnnOUTCOMES & RESULTSnOverall, one-third of participants said they knew nothing about speech and language therapy, and males were significantly less familiar with it. Less than half the participants were aware that speech and language therapy is a degree course, and minority ethnic participants were significantly less likely to know this. Compared with males, females were almost five times as likely to say they would consider a career in speech and language therapy. Participants with relatives in health-related jobs were significantly more likely to consider speech and language therapy than those without such relatives. Compared with white participants, minority ethnic participants said they placed greater importance on studying for a degree, a profession and a scientific career, and were more influenced by a careers prestige and a high salary.nnnCONCLUSIONSnIn order to increase the ethnic and gender diversity of speech and language therapists, the profile of the profession needs to be raised with increased awareness of the degree level courses, the scientific, evidence-based nature of the work, and current salary scales.

Teachers and Speech and Language Therapists Working with Children with Physical Disabilities: Implications for Inclusive Education.

Jannet A. Wright and Myra Kersner, senior lecturers in the Department of Human Communication Science, University College London, consider the practical implications of recent policies for teachers and speech and language therapists working together in inclusive settings. Their conclusions complement McCartneys ideas in the previous article.

Speech and language therapy: The decision-making process when working with children.

Section I Professional Issues: learning how to be a professional. Section II Management in different settings. Section III Working with others. Section IV Assessing and managing children with communication problems

Teachers of pupils with speech and language difficulties: outcomes of specialist courses

Opportunities for teachers to undertake professional development to work with pupils with language and communication difficulties have increased recently in the UK. It is suggested that the competence to work in this field is likely to be over and above what is generally expected of teachers. This paper describes the process of agreeing what the outcomes of these courses should be.

Collaborative working practices in schools for children with physical disabilities

Questionnaires were sent to speech and language therapists (SLTs) and teachers in 83 special schools catering specifically for children with physical disabilities. Sixty two teachers and 47 SLTs responded. The results indicated that there were different patterns of collaborative working in these special schools than had been found in a previous study in schools for children with severe learning disabilities (SLD). The majority of SLTs and teachers were using alternative and augmentative communication systems (AAC) with the children and, in the main, the SLTs introduced the aids to the children and their families. These findings have implications for the specialist training of speech and language therapists.

Child Language Development — Learning to Talk. By Sandra Bochner, Penny Price & Jane Jones (London: Whurr Publishers Ltd, 1997). Pp. 236. Paperback, £19.50. ISBN: 1-86156-040-0

The focus of this book is language acquisition and a particular language programme, which has been developed in Australia. The authors work in the School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. The programme is based on the premise that children develop their language skills through interaction with the people around them. The approach described in the book is suitable for children who are slower

Book reviews : Special needs: bridging the curriculum gap Jonathan Sofity and Shirley Bull Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1987. 148 pp

The book is clearly laid out. Each chapter has an overview and summary outlined in a box. Following each chapter there is a useful set of recommended readings. Within the chapter there are clear sub-headings making it a very easy book to find your way around or just to dip into. The authors are familiar with the criticisms levelled at some of the approaches, and try to present a balanced view. For example, in the section on Direct Instruction Teaching Procedures they make clear that they are aware of the criticisms of this approach, but go on to put forward an argument that these procedures be considered at certain times.