Honoring Children's Communication Rights: Listening to the Perspectives of Children Who Stutter Using Drawings, Self-Report Measures, and Interviews

Purpose: Reflecting a commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and Articles 12 (respect for children's views) and Article 13 (sharing thoughts freely) in particular, this study aimed to explore whether drawings with interviews are a suitable method for understanding the perspectives of children who stutter (CWS) and what CWS communicate about their talking using this method. Method: Data were collected with 16 children aged 4;0 (years;months)–6;10 and involved drawings (62), interviews, and three self-report measures. The drawings were analyzed quantitatively across two dimensions: (a) developmental analysis and (b) focal point analysis. Inductive reflexive thematic analysis of the interview transcripts was also conducted. Results: Self-report measure scores indicated that most participants were “happy” about their talking with an average self-perception of little/no difficulty when talking. Participants demonstrated developmentally age-appropriate drawing skills. Six focal points were identified across the 62 drawings: (1) facial expressions, (2) accentuation of body features, (3) portrayal of talking/listening, (4) colors used, (5) conversation partners, and (6) sense of self. Four themes were generated: (1) familial relationships, (2) friendship, (3) child's interests, and (4) self-perception of competence. Conclusions: Drawing with an interview is a suitable method for understanding the perspectives of CWS. A range of perspectives were expressed by the children. Stuttering was not found to be a prominent feature of children's perspectives on their talking. These findings contribute to the adoption of holistic, person-centered approaches when working with CWS in speech-language pathology.