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comparison of parents' perceptions and speech/language pathologists' perceptions of selected social competency needs of speech/language impaired preschool children in Broward County, Florida

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Date Issued:
1997
Summary:
The problem investigated in this study was to determine the significance of agreement between the perceptions of parents and speech/language pathologists toward selected social competency needs of speech/language impaired children in the personal, family, and school contexts. Preschool children exhibiting speech/language impairments are more likely to demonstrate a lack of social competency development than children with normal speech and language development. As children with speech/language impairments receive intervention in the absence of parental support, the intervention results may be minimized. If perceptions of parents and speech/language pathologists differ significantly, parents may not reinforce carryover activities in the home, thereby reducing therapy gains. The evaluation instrument utilized in this study was a 31-item survey developed by Tunstall (1993) at the College of Education, University of South Carolina. The survey was created using a 4-point Likert-type scale. Reliability was obtained by Tunstall in 1993 and revealed good internal reliabilities. In 1996, this study included the entire sample of 100 respondents to obtain a high reliability coefficient alpha of .9189. The sample included 70 parents of preschool speech/language impaired students and 30 speech/language pathologists of the Broward County Public School System in Florida, during the fall of 1996. Surveys were distributed to parents of children exhibiting a speech/language impairment, who attended a preschool speech/language, developmental, and hearing screening provided by the Broward County Public Schools. During an annual Speech/Language Policies and Procedures meeting in August of 1996, surveys were distributed to 30 speech/language pathologists providing treatment for preschool children. Three hypotheses were developed to determine if there was a significant difference in the perceptions of the two groups surveyed. Analyses of variance were utilized to test the statistical significance of the group (parents and speech/language pathologists) differences for each factor (personal, family, and school). Descriptive statistics were included to describe the demographic characteristics of the respondents from the survey instrument. A Boneferonni type adjustment was made to the nominal alpha of .05, such that all the hypotheses were tested at the .017 level. Based on the findings of this study, there was a significant difference between the perceptions of the parents and speech/language pathologists toward selected social competency needs of preschool children with speech/language impairments within the family context, F(1,98) = 7.44, p =.0078. The results revealed the two groups were not in agreement as to the importance of family factors and the contributions of those factors to a preschool child's social competency. The mean score of the parents' responses was significantly higher than that of the speech/language pathologists.
Title: A comparison of parents' perceptions and speech/language pathologists' perceptions of selected social competency needs of speech/language impaired preschool children in Broward County, Florida.
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Name(s): Thornton, Robin Elizabeth
Florida Atlantic University, Degree Grantor
College of Education
Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1997
Physical Form: pdf
Extent: 113 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The problem investigated in this study was to determine the significance of agreement between the perceptions of parents and speech/language pathologists toward selected social competency needs of speech/language impaired children in the personal, family, and school contexts. Preschool children exhibiting speech/language impairments are more likely to demonstrate a lack of social competency development than children with normal speech and language development. As children with speech/language impairments receive intervention in the absence of parental support, the intervention results may be minimized. If perceptions of parents and speech/language pathologists differ significantly, parents may not reinforce carryover activities in the home, thereby reducing therapy gains. The evaluation instrument utilized in this study was a 31-item survey developed by Tunstall (1993) at the College of Education, University of South Carolina. The survey was created using a 4-point Likert-type scale. Reliability was obtained by Tunstall in 1993 and revealed good internal reliabilities. In 1996, this study included the entire sample of 100 respondents to obtain a high reliability coefficient alpha of .9189. The sample included 70 parents of preschool speech/language impaired students and 30 speech/language pathologists of the Broward County Public School System in Florida, during the fall of 1996. Surveys were distributed to parents of children exhibiting a speech/language impairment, who attended a preschool speech/language, developmental, and hearing screening provided by the Broward County Public Schools. During an annual Speech/Language Policies and Procedures meeting in August of 1996, surveys were distributed to 30 speech/language pathologists providing treatment for preschool children. Three hypotheses were developed to determine if there was a significant difference in the perceptions of the two groups surveyed. Analyses of variance were utilized to test the statistical significance of the group (parents and speech/language pathologists) differences for each factor (personal, family, and school). Descriptive statistics were included to describe the demographic characteristics of the respondents from the survey instrument. A Boneferonni type adjustment was made to the nominal alpha of .05, such that all the hypotheses were tested at the .017 level. Based on the findings of this study, there was a significant difference between the perceptions of the parents and speech/language pathologists toward selected social competency needs of preschool children with speech/language impairments within the family context, F(1,98) = 7.44, p =.0078. The results revealed the two groups were not in agreement as to the importance of family factors and the contributions of those factors to a preschool child's social competency. The mean score of the parents' responses was significantly higher than that of the speech/language pathologists.
Identifier: 9780591624793 (isbn), 12544 (digitool), FADT12544 (IID), fau:9435 (fedora)
Note(s): Adviser: Ted Urich.
Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1997.
Subject(s): Health Sciences, Speech Pathology
Education, Early Childhood
Education, Special
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12544
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Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize\ archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Host Institution: FAU