Date of Graduation

Spring 2009

Degree

Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Committee Chair

Klaas Bakker

Abstract

This study was used to determine which sources of information parents most often turned to when they learned that their child had a communication disorder. A survey was conducted in February of 2009, using participants from the Missouri State Speech-Language Hearing Clinic. Participants were grouped into four categories according to their child’s primary diagnosis— Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH), Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Articulation Disorder or Delay, and Language Disorder or Delay. Data analysis indicated that parents from all four diagnosis groups used professionals most often when researching their child’s communication disorder or delay. When comparing how helpful and easy different resources were to access, parents in the DHH group indicated that books were much less helpful resources than did parents in the Language Disorder/Delay group. The DHH group also identified family and friends as more helpful and easy to learn information from than the PDD group did. No diagnosis group found professionals to be the most helpful or easy to access when researching information, which implies that professionals need to improve how they impart information to parents about communication disorders and delays.

Keywords

information, communication disorder, resources, children, professionals

Subject Categories

Speech Pathology and Audiology

Copyright

© DeLaney Anne Green

Download

Campus Only

Share

COinS