Victims Seeking Help from Speech-Language Pathologists: Bullying, Preparedness, and Perceptions

Abstract

Objective: Antibullying initiatives indicate that all school-based personnel should accept responsibility for changing the school climate and eliminating bullying. This study examined if victims seeking assistance for bullying contacted speech-language pathologists (SLPs), SLPs' preparation to address bullying and their current perceptions of responsibilities and interventions. Methods: A mailed survey consisting of a questionnaire and scale on bullying intervention strategies was completed by 418 school-based SLPs. Results: Sixty-one (14.6%) SLPs reported that victims on their caseloads told them directly about being bullied during the last month. The majority of SLPs (84.9%) reported that bullying was a problem in schools, and 65.1% reported that they had observed students being bullied in the past month. Less than half of the SLPs (46.7%) reported feeling prepared to deal with bullying episodes. Thirty-six SLPs (7.9%) reported that they did not address bullying issues because it was outside the scope of practice or job responsibilities. Conclusions: This is the first large study to report that victims seek help from SLPs directly for assistance with bullying incidents. SLPs stated that they received some training in addressing bullying issues but did not feel prepared. SLPs thought bullying was a problem but were undecided about the best strategies for assisting the students.

Relationship between gingival bleeding and associated factors with reports of verbal bullying in adolescents

“…Adolescents who had speech difficulty and that thought their teeth disturbed their studies also reported more bullying, corroborating previous studies 37,38 . Speech disorders promote a particularly high risk of adolescents being bullied by peers 37,38 .…”

“…Adolescents who had speech difficulty and that thought their teeth disturbed their studies also reported more bullying, corroborating previous studies 37,38 . Speech disorders promote a particularly high risk of adolescents being bullied by peers 37,38 . In addition, the fact that adolescents find that teeth disrupt studies is highly correlated with oral disorders, which has been reported in the literature as factors that influence school performance, 39,40 and, consequently, may be related to the occurrence of verbal bullying among adolescents.…”

Stomatognathic system screening in preschoolers and its importance for the elaboration of an intervention program in health

“…It is known that speech disorders can lead to various impairments, such as those in literacy (depending on the nature of the disorder), social-interactions and emotions. A research 27 evidenced that children who suffer from bullying due to some speech disorder seek help from speech therapists and that, although such professionals have been trained to act in this environment, they have declared themselves unprepared for it, and bullying is very frequent in schools for the reason presented. The question asked is: Do Brazilian speech therapists know how to deal with bullying?…”