Stuttering among Children in Nairobi: A Case Study of the Linguistic Symptoms and Intervention Strategies
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Date
2022
Authors
Mwangi, Ruth Naisiae
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Stuttering is a speech or language disfluency that affects 5% of the population
during the childhood years. This percentage reduces to 1% in adulthood. Stuttering
can be managed better if discovered early in childhood if intervention strategies are
applied just as soon as a diagnosis is given. This study sought to investigate the
different types of stuttering in children based on linguistic symptoms, describe the
intervention techniques employed by both parents and speech language therapists
(SLT) and assess the effectiveness of these intervening methods against
internationally recognized standards. The study aimed at demonstrating that there
are children who stutter (CWS) in Kenya and how to identify the type of stutter
using linguistic analysis. The research also investigated the intervention strategies
that were carried out by speech language therapists and parents or guardians and
how effective they are. The Covert Repair Hypothesis was used to explain the
moments of stutter and the EXPLAN theory to analyse the effectiveness of
intervention techniques employed by speech language therapists and parents. A
descriptive research design was employed after the recorded data was transcribed
and the data was translated using graphical schemes. The researcher first identified
two SLT who then connected the researcher to the three CWS currently receiving
consistent therapy for developmental stuttering as well as the primary caregiver who
is involved in the intervention strategies. The data was collected from i) the CWS by
use of a recorder in the form of guided narratives and picture naming exercises; ii)
observation lists to capture secondary stuttering behaviours; iii) questionnaires were
filled by the parents to facilitate the demographics of the CWS and their therapy
histories and iv) semi-structured interviews were also held with the SLTs to discover
the intervention strategies and diagnostic tactics used. The recorded data was
transcribed for the data analysis, the observation checklists were tabulated, the
questionnaires were cast onto pie charts to capture the CWS demographics and the
interviews were transcribed. The findings are as follows: There are different types of
stuttering in children that vary in different degrees in each child. Phonetic elements
like alveolar sounds, fricatives, bilabial plosives and approximants played a key role
in the manifestation of these types of stutter. The SLTs adopted The Lidcombe
Program as the intervention strategy to treat the stutter in which the parents were
involved. This strategy proved effective and age appropriate for the CWS. The
recommendations are that there is a need for assessment and diagnostic test to
identify the stutter in children for early intervention as well as the need to create
awareness in Nairobi, Kenya. Parents, speech language therapists and education
planners are expected to benefit from the research findings in dealing with CWS
especially in alleviating the stutter.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts of Kenyatta University, April, 2022
Keywords
Stuttering, Children, Nairobi, Linguistic Symptoms, ntervention Strategies