Parents Perception of Communication Disorders in Childhood

Abstract

Objective: to acertain parents perception of the occurrence of and factors associated with speechlanguage and hearing disorders in early childhood. Methods: from interviews using a structured questionnaire, 75 parents of preschool children in southern Brazil were interviewed. The following variables were studied: gender, age, number of children and knowledge of the phonological disorders, such as age for language changes, results of hearing problems, behavior problems before speech therapy, what the deleterious habits can cause in children and knowledge of the speech therapy. Results: in case of suspicion of a speech-language disorder, 46 (61.3%) of parents seek evaluation by speech-language therapist and 37 (49.3%) by pediatricians. The higher the parents' educational level of the, more they tend to consider the age group between 4-5 years as the final age of phonological acquisition and overcoming of speech disorders related to language development (p = 0.005). The relevancy between parents' knowledge about baby's bottle and pacifier to their schooling was not statistically significant (p = 0.549). Conclusion: the parent's knowledge has converged with the recommendations in the present regarding the occurrence and comorbidities associated with hearing difficulties and acquisition and language development in early childhood.