Teachers' perceptions of adolescent females with voice disorders.

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.