PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' attitudes toward, and perceptions of personality traits of, female adolescents who presented with voice disorders. METHOD: For this comparative study consisting of a 25-item web-based semantic differential survey, teachers rated voice recordings of 4 female adolescents (considered normophonic, mildly, moderately, and severely dysphonic, respectively) on 18 personality traits and 6 teacher attitude parameters. A flyer with a link to the survey was distributed via e-mail to teachers at 8 middle and high schools in Ohio. RESULTS: Thirty-two teachers completed the survey. Results revealed differences in teachers' perceptions of female adolescents with a normal voice compared to those with voice disorders. CONCLUSION: Adolescent female students with voice disorders may be at risk for academic, social, and vocational difficulties. These results highlight and support the need to inform teachers, speech-language pathologists, students, and families about the potential for subtle biases and negative perceptions of students with voice disorders by teachers. Furthermore, teaching self-advocacy to students who have voice disorders may help them obtain an optimal education experience.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' attitudes toward, and perceptions of personality traits of, female adolescents who presented with voice disorders. METHOD: For this comparative study consisting of a 25-item web-based semantic differential survey, teachers rated voice recordings of 4 female adolescents (considered normophonic, mildly, moderately, and severely dysphonic, respectively) on 18 personality traits and 6 teacher attitude parameters. A flyer with a link to the survey was distributed via e-mail to teachers at 8 middle and high schools in Ohio. RESULTS: Thirty-two teachers completed the survey. Results revealed differences in teachers' perceptions of female adolescents with a normal voice compared to those with voice disorders. CONCLUSION: Adolescent female students with voice disorders may be at risk for academic, social, and vocational difficulties. These results highlight and support the need to inform teachers, speech-language pathologists, students, and families about the potential for subtle biases and negative perceptions of students with voice disorders by teachers. Furthermore, teaching self-advocacy to students who have voice disorders may help them obtain an optimal education experience.
Entities:
Keywords:
adolescent; female; middle and high school teachers; voice disorders
Authors: Elizabeth S Heller Murray; Roxanne K Segina; Geralyn Harvey Woodnorth; Cara E Stepp Journal: J Speech Lang Hear Res Date: 2020-02-14 Impact factor: 2.297