言語聴覚士養成課程における吃音学生の困難と支援・配慮に関する実態—吃音者対象の質問紙調査より

Investigation of school life difficulties and support needs of people who stutter in speech-language-hearing therapist education programs

　言語聴覚士(以下，ST)を目指す吃音者にとって，吃音の問題は様々な障壁となり，ST養成校における支援が求められる．本調査ではST養成校における吃音者の困難・配慮および吃音STの実態調査を質問紙法により実施した．ST養成校に在学経験のある吃音者27名(男性22名，女性5名，平均年齢29.0±5.3歳)からの回答が得られた．回答者は，臨床実習や検査演習での検査の教示，授業での音読，就職活動や入試での面接など，様々な場面で困難を感じていることがわかり，「吃音の認知」「吃音の理解」「吃音を考慮した評価」「代替手段の利用」などの配慮を必要としていることがわかった．自身の吃音を契機に養成校に入学する者は多いものの，入学後に吃音領域の少なさを知る者も多かった．教員などへの相談により心理的にプラスの影響があったり，環境整備が行われる例も多くみられたが，教員へ相談ができない例もあり，教員の積極的な吃音学生への介入が求められる．

　Students who stutter face a number of challenges while enrolled in education programs for speech-language-hearing therapists (SLHT), and they need support and consideration for their speaking difficulties. In this study, we conducted a survey by questionnaire to identify and investigate issues that people who stutter face during their SLHT education. Twenty-seven people, comprising 22 males and 5 females with a mean age of 29.0 ± 5.3, who stutter and who have recently finished an SLHT education program or are currently enrolled in one, participated in the study. For most of the participants, stuttering caused problems in several situations, such as when doing clinical practicum, when giving oral instructions in evaluation exercises, when reading out loud in class, when taking job interviews, and when taking entrance examinations. Participants wrote that they wanted their SLHT teachers "to be familiar with stuttering," "to understand stuttering," "to evaluate them making considerations for the effect of their stuttering," and "to let them use alternative communication strategies to speech." Although many participants were originally motivated by their stuttering to enter an SLHT program, they were unaware, before entering the program, of the limited exposure to stuttering in the curriculum. Whereas some participants were satisfied or successfully negotiated environmental arrangements with their teachers, others could not voice their difficulties or needs to their teachers. This suggests that the teachers may need to initiate actions for making reasonable accommodation for students who stutter.