Preparing Adolescents who Stutter for the Transition to Life After High School

PURPOSE: The purpose of this project was to understand the needs of adolescents who stutter as they transition to life after high school, and to develop an evidence-based discussion guide for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to use in their postsecondary transition planning with adolescents who stutter.METHODS: We conducted four focus groups: two with current high schoolers who stutter and recent high school graduates who stutter (n=11), and two with parents of high schoolers who stutter and high school-based SLPs (n=14). The focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three to five themes were created for each of the three main domains of transition plans: postsecondary education/training, employment, and independent living. While the themes were unique to each postsecondary domain, there was a common thread of helping adolescents develop an open, proactive stance toward stuttering and discussing stuttering with others. CONCLUSIONS: SLPs are uniquely positioned to guide adolescents who stutter through the postsecondary transition process, as they are often the only specialized support personnel working with students who stutter in the schools. There are discussion topics that are important to facilitate with adolescents who stutter as they prepare to transition to life after high school, which we present in a printable discussion guide located as supplemental material to this article.