About the Authors: Dale F. Williams, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-F is Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Florida Atlantic University. A board-certified specialist in fluency, Dr. Williams is a past president of the American Board of Fluency and Fluency Disorders. His publications include four textbooks, a stuttering workbook, and a children’s story about stuttering, in addition to numerous research articles. Dr. Susannah L. Brown, Professor, Art Education, Florida Atlantic University, College of Education, works with all ages, PreK-adults, to inspire academic excellence and a commitment to the community through arts engagement for over thirty-five years. Cross disciplinary expertise in the arts and STEAM education along with teaching experience with diverse learners, propels Dr. Brown forward as an engaged faculty member and mentor for her students. Francesca M. Cocilovo is a current Florida Atlantic University student with her B.A. in Italian Studies and prospective master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. As a graduate assistant, she aids in research projects involving language acquisition, motor speech learning, memory consolidation, and stuttering literature.

It has been known for some time that children’s storybooks can benefit personal growth (e.g., Spufford, 2002). For example, such books have helped children better appreciate the importance of respect for others, differences across individuals, and problem-solving (Barton et al., 2019; Ismail, 2023). Regarding children with differences, storybooks can aid with important developmental concepts such as empathy, positive self-identification, and compassion (Kucirkova, 2019; Luther, 2023). 

An example of children with differences is, of course, those who stutter. However, literature targeted to that group is scarce (Howerton, 2021). This is unfortunate, as these children can develop shame, suffer from bullying, and experience isolation (Boyle, 2018; Türkili, Türkili, & Aydın, 2022) as a result of their speech difference.

The Can’t-Be-Seen Who Couldn’t Squawk (Williams & Brown, 2021) is a picture book developed to address the lack of resources about stuttering children. The main character Nate has a difference which follows the developmental pattern of stuttering (although the book’s message of self-acceptance is intended to extend beyond that one condition). The progression from identification includes awareness, self-consciousness, isolation, avoidance, bullying, intervention, desensitization, and, finally, self-acceptance, a sequence consistent with that of stuttering (Bernard & Norbury, 2023; Croft & Byrd, 2023; Erickson & Block, 2013; Laiho et al., 2022; Logan, 2022; Williams, 2023). 

A book about a character experiencing this emotional succession can potentially help the stuttering child realize he or she is not alone, and that support exists. In addition, it can teach other children the importance of accepting those unlike themselves. However, the book’s effectiveness is evident only if its main themes are absorbed.

The purpose of the study was to determine whether repeated readings of The Can’t-Be-Seen Who Couldn’t Squawk can help children understand the book’s main themes of self-acceptance, empowerment, compassion (or kindness), persistence, addressing differences constructively, acceptance of others, family, friends, tolerance, and solving problems constructively. 

Family	Persistance
Empowerment	Self-acceptance

Methods:

Nine parents of age-appropriate children, eight males and one female, were surveyed. The mean age of the children was 5.4 years. Parents who participated were given a copy of the storybook and asked to read it to their children at least three times over the span of one week. The basis for the number of readings was studies indicating that reading fluency and comprehension were greatly improved by at least three readings of a story (Padeliadu & Giazitzidou, 2018; Therrien, 2004). All children heard the story exactly three times.

After the third reading, parents were instructed to discuss with their children the ten “Questions just for fun” at the end of the book, then complete the survey. The discussion questions were comprised of the following:

• What did you like about the story? 
• What was your favorite part? 
• What do you like about Nate? 
• Do you like Nate’s friends? What makes them good (or bad) friends? 
• Would you like to be Nate’s friend? Why (or why not)? 
• Would you like to live in a land that can’t be seen? 
• If you lived there, what could you and your friends have done to help Nate? 
• What did Nate learn? 
• What did Nate’s family learn? 
• What about his friends?

The survey questions asked parents to list the age and gender of their children, the number of times they read the story to them, and to rate the child’s enjoyment of the story on a 5-point scale from “not at all” to “very much”. Parents also answered yes or no to a series of questions about their child’s responses to the “Questions just for fun,” namely whether they alluded to self-acceptance, empowerment, compassion (or kindness), persistence, addressing differences, acceptance of others, family, friends, tolerance, and solving problems constructively. 

Parents were also instructed to describe their child’s responses. Finally, they were asked the additional open-ended question(s), “Since hearing the story, has your child exhibited any behaviors that demonstrate changed attitudes regarding any of the items listed above? If so, what were they?”

Results:

Parents rated all nine of the children as enjoying the story “very much” (Figure 1). When discussing the questions, the children’s responses referenced all ten of the book’s main concepts.  As illustrated by Figure 2, a majority of the children alluded to compassion and kindness (mentioned by 8 of them), friends (7), self-acceptance and bullying or teasing (6 each), as well as children with differences (5). Examples include:

• “He said Nate’s friends are kind, he liked this aspect of the story.” (Compassion/Kindness)
• “He recognized that you just have to be who you are.” (Self-Acceptance)
• “He was very upset about the mean friend. While reading actually at that part he said ‘that is bullying. He is not supposed to do that.’” (Bullying/Teasing)

Fig 1

Fig 2

Regarding behavior change, opportunities were limited, given the small amount of time between the readings and survey completion. Still, there were three responses, including this notable one: “They definitely seem more conscious. Maybe even more accepting of themselves. That it’s ok he isn’t the best at soccer because he is the best at math.”

Discussion:

Our results indicate that repeated readings of The Can’t-Be-Seen Who Couldn’t Squawk (Williams & Brown, 2021) helped children understand the book’s main themes. Specifically, children to whom the book was read discussed the concepts of compassion or kindness, friendship, self-acceptance, bullying/teasing, and children with differences to a relatively large degree; the importance of tolerance, persistence, family, getting along with others, and problem-solving were also mentioned by multiple children.

The results show a detailed snapshot of parental reporting of their children’s attitudes at the conclusion of three readings of the story. As such, it is important not to overgeneralize the findings. For example, nothing can be claimed at this time regarding how lasting these attitudes are. Perhaps future research can assess the same perceptions over time, in particular those that were frequently mentioned by the children in this study.

  

References

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