Conceptions and Misconceptions: What Do School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists Think About Dyslexia?

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory study was to evaluate speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') conceptions and misconceptions about dyslexia. Participants were 86 school-based SLPs. They completed an online survey on which they rated their agreement and disagreement with true and false statements related to the scientific evidence about the nature of dyslexia and interventions for dyslexia, as well as common misconceptions about dyslexia. There was considerable variability among SLPs' agreement and disagreement with the statements. Critically, despite abundant contrary evidence in the literature, many SLPs believe that dyslexia involves a visual processing deficit. These findings suggest that many school-based SLPs hold misconceptions about dyslexia, especially those related to dyslexia being a visual disorder. The identified misconceptions may contribute to some SLPs' reluctance to incorporate reading and prereading skills into speech-language assessment and intervention. SLPs need greater knowledge of dyslexia to provide more effective evaluations and intervention services.