Examining the understandings of young adult South African men who stutter: The question of disability

BACKGROUND: A disability studies approach seeks to understand and address political and social issues that affect disabled individuals. Disability studies scholars employ various models of disability to address and oppose the oppression and discrimination of disabled individuals. A disability studies approach, however, has largely been absent in studies that have investigated the lived experiences of people who stutter. AIM: To examine the understandings young adult South African men who stutter hold of whether, and in what way, stuttering may be considered to be a disability. METHODS & PROCEDURES: A total of 15 men who stutter, aged 20–39 years, participated in the study. Semi‐structured interviews and two focus groups discussions were conducted to collect data for the study. The data were analysed according to a phenomenological approach and the affective turn in social research. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The results indicated that some men in this study understood stuttering as a speech disorder that can be controlled, while other men constructed stuttering as a disability, subjectively positioning themselves either as disabled or non‐disabled men. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: This article emphasizes the importance of adopting a disability studies approach when examining the lived experiences of people who stutter and enhancing intervention strategies to adequately address the disabled needs of such individuals. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT? The past few decades have seen researchers investigating the personal and social experiences of people who stutter. However, empirical studies exploring the disabling experiences of people who stutter have been absent from the existing body of knowledge. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE? This research aimed to provide comprehensive insight into the disabling experiences of people who stutter. The results gave an insight into the oppression and disablism experienced by people who stutter. More specifically, the findings demonstrated how individuals who stutter are disabled by oppressive communication practices that dominate spaces of education and employment. WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL OR ACTUAL CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THIS WORK? Several men in this study attended speech therapy to gain control over their stuttering. For a number of participants, speech therapy proved a valuable experience, while others saw speech therapy as being out of touch with their lived reality of stuttering. Speech and language therapists are encouraged to employ a disability studies approach in order to enhance intervention strategies to adequately address the disabling needs of people who stutter.