Parental knowledge about communication problems among pre-school children in an Indian context

Parents play a crucial role in development of communication skills in children. Current study was undertaken to gather parental perceptions with respect to communication problems in preschool children in Indian context. Perception of communication problems among sixty parents of preschool Indian children were explored using a semi structured questionnaire. Knowledge of parents were analyzed across age group, gender and level of education. Results revealed that both the older and younger age groups’ parents had fair level of knowledge towards their children’s normal development with inadequate knowledge on role of speech language pathologists (SLPs) in identification and intervention of communication deficits. Compared to fathers, mothers showed better knowledge regarding their children’s normal communication patterns. Further, the knowledge level enhanced with increased parental education level. Findings indicate that most of the Indian parents are still not cognizant about the roles and services rendered by the speech language pathologists. Ample proficiency in parents about the normal language development but failure to provide early identification and effective rehabilitation could not only lead to parental stress but also create a huge burden to the society. The findings necessitate the need for awareness building about SLPs’ services in Indian context.