McAllister Lindy, McCormack Jane, McLeod Sharynne, Harrison Linda J
Mayne School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Herston, Australia.
Int J Speech Lang Pathol. 2011 Jun;13(3):251-67. doi: 10.3109/17549507.2011.535565.
Speech impairment (speech sound disorder) is a high prevalence condition that responds well to early intervention provided by speech-language pathologists (SLPs). However, not all children in Australia are able to access necessary speech-language pathology services. The aim of this research was to investigate Australian parents' experiences of accessing and engaging in speech-language pathology services for their children with speech impairment. Two studies were conducted to achieve this aim. In Study 1, questionnaires were completed by 109 parents of pre-school children who had been identified with concerns about their speech. Only a third (n = 34, 31.2%) of the parents had previously accessed speech-language pathology services for assessment of their children's speech and just 29 of these (26.6% of the entire sample) reported their children had received intervention. Two thirds (n = 68, 62.4%) of the parents had not sought speech-language pathology services and half of these (n = 35, 32.1% of the entire sample) reported that "services were not needed". There was a small number of parents (n = 7, 6.4%) who had attempted to access services but had been unsuccessful. Parents identified teachers, family, friends, and doctors as important sources of information about their children's speech. In Study 2, interviews were conducted with 13 of the parents to discuss their experiences of speech impairment and service delivery in greater depth. Parents expected that others would make them aware of their child's speech impairment and that they should be able to access speech-language pathology services when required. Consequently, there is a need to raise awareness about speech impairment and speech-language pathology services to ensure appropriate identification, referral, and service provision for children at risk.
言语障碍（语音障碍）是一种高发性疾病，对言语病理学家（SLP）提供的早期干预反应良好。然而，并非所有澳大利亚儿童都能获得必要的言语病理学服务。本研究的目的是调查澳大利亚父母为其有言语障碍的孩子获取和参与言语病理学服务的经历。为实现这一目标进行了两项研究。在研究1中，109名学前儿童的家长完成了问卷，这些儿童被确定存在言语问题。只有三分之一（n = 34，31.2%）的家长此前曾为孩子的言语问题寻求言语病理学服务进行评估，其中只有29名（占整个样本的26.6%）报告他们的孩子接受了干预。三分之二（n = 68，62.4%）的家长没有寻求言语病理学服务，其中一半（n = 35，占整个样本的32.1%）报告“不需要服务”。有一小部分家长（n = 7，6.4%）曾试图获取服务但未成功。家长们认为教师、家人、朋友和医生是有关孩子言语问题的重要信息来源。在研究2中，对13名家长进行了访谈，以更深入地讨论他们孩子言语障碍及服务提供的经历。家长们期望其他人能让他们意识到孩子的言语障碍，并且他们在需要时应能够获得言语病理学服务。因此，有必要提高对言语障碍和言语病理学服务的认识，以确保对有风险的儿童进行适当的识别、转诊和服务提供。
