Logopedics, Vol. 7 No. 2, 2017.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31299/log.7.2.3
Parental concerns regarding child's language and speech development
Ksenija Romstein
orcid.org/0000-0001-6540-0273
; Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti
Abstract
For parents, language and speech are important aspects of a child's development, especially during early years. To find out more about parental concerns regarding child’s speech development, a survey was conducted in five Croatian counties during January, February and March 2017. Overall 140 parental assessments based on Ages and Stages – 3 (Squires et al., 2009) were analyzed, 54,28 % regarding boys and 45,71 % regarding girls. In the part of the questionnaire containing open-end questions, parents were given the opportunity to express their concerns in a written form. This survey revealed that parents are mostly concerned about child’s speech development between ages 2 and 3, which is the age after which the concern is declining. However, these concerns raise again between ages 4 and 5. Results show that parents of younger children are focused on joint attention and a number of words a child uses for everyday communication. Parents of three- and four-year-olds are mostly concerned about verbal fluency and speech rhythm, while parents of five-years-olds are mostly concerned about child’s articulation. These results indicate that parents are aware of speech development, but need more detailed information about normal and delayed development so they can act early.
Keywords
language and speech development; parents; child’s development; early screening; early intervention
Hrčak ID:
192530
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2017.
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