Interdisciplinary collaboration and clinical management for Norwegian preschool children who stutter: 'Who, what, when, and where?'

Purpose: Childhood stuttering may have long-lasting effects on a child's linguistic and psychosocial development. Early interventions have shown promising results, however, clarity in professional roles and collaboration with parents is warranted to ensure equal and best practice. This study investigated early childhood professionals' and parents' experience with interdisciplinary collaboration around preschool children who stutter.

Method: Three focus groups and eight individual digital interviews were conducted with a total of 18 participants: general practitioners (n = 2), public health nurses (n = 3), speech-language pathologists (n = 4), preschool teachers (n = 4) and parents (n = 5).

Results: Qualitative content analysis resulted in three themes: collaboration routines, competencies in early intervention, and organization of services. Our informants described dual collaborations among the professionals, typically between speech-language pathologists and preschool teachers, especially if the children did not have any other difficulty than stuttering. The professionals had different views on the wait-and-see approach. Both parents and professionals indicated that the system around a child who stutter could be person-dependent in referral and management. Some of the parents experienced that they had to actively seek information themselves to get what their child needed.

Conclusion: This potential inequality of services for preschool children who stutter implies a need for a systematic structure and increased professional knowledge in the healthcare and educational setting.