The Effect of Elementary School Teachers’ Knowledge of Learning Disabilities on Referring Afflicted Students to Speech Therapy

Objectives: Learning disabilities can cause serious communication and socio-emotional disorders in students. Teachers, as specialists who are in direct contact with students on a daily basis, have an important role in identifying and referring students suspected of these disabilities. Therefore, this study investigated the role of primary school teachers’ awareness and attitude about the signs and symptoms of learning disabilities on the referral of students of Ahvaz City, Iran to speech therapy centers.  Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 165 elementary school teachers in Ahvaz in 2016-2017. The teacher’s awareness questionnaire was used to determine the teachers’ awareness level. A logistic regression test was used to explore the role of teachers’ attributes on the referral of students to speech therapies. Results: The mean total score of teachers’ awareness about students’ learning disabilities was significantly different in the case and control groups (P<0.05). Teachers’ awareness scores had a direct and significant relationship with working experience (P<0.05) and participation in educational workshops (P<0.05). However, there was no significant relationship between the teachers’ awareness score with age and gender (P>0.05). Discussion: Teaching experience, educational level, history of participation in educational workshops and the teachers’ awareness of learning disabilities are critical factors in referring students to speech therapy centers. It is recommended that teachers participate in workshops at regular intervals to update their knowledge on this topic.