Perceptions of Korean Speech Clinicians and Laypeople toward Adults and Children with Stuttering

Yu-Jung Kim, Son-A Chang and Mun-Ja Shin

Listeners’ perception toward stuttering has been considered an important factor to the diagnosis and treatment of stuttering. This study intended to examine perceptual differences between speech clinicians and laypeople toward children and adults with stuttering. A total of 102 subjects were surveyed. Clinicians’ perception was more stereotypical than that of laypeople. Laypeople perceived adults and children with no significant differences but, clinicians viewed adults more stereotypically. Clinicians were not influenced by experiences with stuttering, but experienced laypeople perceived children more negatively although people who have stuttering family members showed a less stereotypical perception. Item analysis revealed that both groups showed different perspectives between adults and children with stuttering.