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Discrimination and internalised feelings experienced by people who stutter in Jordan

Abstract Purpose: This study investigated the internalised feelings and discrimination experienced by people who stutter in Jordan. Method: Five adult speakers who stutter were interviewed as a focus group. The participants were asked about their feelings related to stuttering and discrimination. The participants’ responses in the focus group and items adapted from the extant literature formed the basis of a 20-item questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered to 20 additional adults who stutter to assess their internalised feelings about stuttering and their perceived rejecting behaviours (discrimination) associated with their impairment. Result: Feeling “annoyed” was the item that received the highest percentage of negative internalised feelings, followed by “embarrassed,” “shame,” “disappointed,” “nervous, “sad,” “pessimistic,” “fearful,” “worried” and “lonely.” The results of the discrimination experiences indicated that “getting a leadership position” was the item that most people who stutter reported being worried about, followed by “participation in the classroom,” “getting a job,” “getting married,” “being fully paid in their jobs,” “teased,” “promoted” and “renting a house.” Conclusion: These findings provide further evidence of the universality that stuttering is more than the core surface features of speech, but also include aspects that exist below the surface such as negative internalised feelings and various discrimination experiences.