A Survey on Conceptions of Stuttering

• Main Authors: Nachiketa Rout, Suman Kumar, Navnit Kumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2014-03-01
• Series: Rehabilitation Process and Outcome
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4137/RPO.S12755

The conceptions about stuttering vary amongst cultures. Culturally specific findings regarding stuttering help in understanding the peoples' views and conceptions about stuttering and devising awareness and counselling strategies. A total of 132 passengers on the Coromandal Express from Chennai to Howrah participated in this study. All of them belonged to the upper middle socio-economic class. Preliminary Stuttering Conception Questionnaire (PSCQ) was used to understand their conceptions of stuttering. 23% had no idea and 12% had myths about the etiology of stuttering. 11% assumed it was a genetic problem and 5—6% a physical-mental problem. 31% had no idea of treatment options. 25% preferred medicine, 23% rehabilitation for treatment of stuttering. For rehabilitation, only 45% precisely knew about the speech language pathologist; the remaining 55% were unaware of this profession. Steps need to be taken towards educating the common man about stuttering.