LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:6 June 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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A Regional Perspective on Parents’ Awareness of
Childhood Communication Disorders

Mohammad Al Rjoob, BS.

Abstract

This study aimed to measure parents’ awareness of communication disorders in childhood within Jordanian society, and to examine whether there is a subgroup of Jordanian society that is more aware than others. The parents of 234 preschool children were interviewed using a questionnaire developed for this purpose. The items were selected based on different studies published on this topic that examined factors such as gender, age, family income, level of education, geographical region, and knowledge of communication disorders in childhood. Items that asked about a specialist who can help children with communication disorders, the best age for therapeutic intervention for children with language delay, and whether the way parents interacted with their child affected the child’s speech and language development, among others were included in the questionnaire. The total percentage of correct answers regarding parents’ awareness about communication disorders in children was 51%. This result indicates that parents’ awareness of communication disorders in childhood in Jordanian society needs improvement. The results further showed that there was no subgroup in Jordanian society that had more awareness than others.

Keywords: communication disorders; childhood; language delay; hearing loss; consequences of hearing loss; speech and language disorders; parental awareness.

Introduction

Communication is considered as a basic human function (McCormack, Baker, and Crowe 2018; McEwin and Santow 2018; McLeod 2018) that is essential to every person and society’s health and wellbeing (McEwin and Santow 2018). Communication disorders can limit involvement at all levels, including family, group, national and global levels (Hegde 2001). Early detection and treatment of such conditions can help avoid the incidence of comorbidities, as early specialized intervention can prevent the co-occurrence of expressive (Norbury 2020; Shukla et al. 2020), hearing (Lieu et al. 2020) and language disorders (McAfee 2009), as well as phono-audiological disorders (Shiply and McAfee 2009), which commonly arise in the first decade of one’s life (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017; Hegde 2001).

However, clinical practice demonstrates that communication disorders influence a person’s relationship with their environment (Shukla et al. 2020; Yuan and Dollaghan 2018), self-image (Norbury 2020) and formal and informal learning (McLeod 2018; Tambyraja, Farquharson, and Justice 2020). As a result, because parents are typically involved in their children’s development from an early age, they have a better chance of detecting possible speech and language disorders early on (Markham and Dean 2006).

The need to raise parental consciousness about the various communication disorders in childhood is the first step in preventing the onset of communication disorders. According to the American Speech and Hearing Association (1991), primary prevention refers to the ‘elimination or inhibition of the initiation and development of communication disorder by altering sensitivity or reducing exposure for susceptible persons’. Several studies have attempted to determine the degree of knowledge, attitudes, and understanding among different target groups, including the general public, teachers, health professionals and so forth. Therefore, if parents are aware of communication disorders early on in their child’s life, they can request the diagnosis and treatment from an appropriate therapist, thus facilitating and speeding up treatment to avoid any negative consequences that may result from communication disorders.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Mohammad Al Rjoob, BS.
Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences
University of Jordan, 11947, Amman-Jordan
rjoubm53@gmail.com
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