Measuring the level of awareness of Primary Language Impairment and Specific Learning Disorder

Subject

Primary Language Impairment (PLI) and Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) are among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. Raising awareness and
Knowledge about them among operators who work closely with children would encourage early identification and timely activation of
Intervention procedures. Previous research measuring knowledge of DPL appears limited and has focused on the general population (Code et al., 2016; Kuvac Kraljevic et al., 2022; Thordardottir et al., 2021).
Only one Italian study (Gennaro et al., 2017) has explored the perception of DSA among parents and teachers, revealing erroneous beliefs such as attributing student difficulties to academic performance. To our knowledge, no recent study has measured the level of awareness of DPL and DSA among pediatricians and teachers, key figures in the early identification of these neurodevelopmental disorders. Therefore, there is a need for a similar survey to identify any differences between the various regions of Italy and the Republic of San Marino.

Learning outcomes

– Examine awareness of DPL and DSA among pediatricians and teachers, both in training and in practice, evaluating the influence of several variables such as age, gender, years of service, geographical region of origin, and geographical region in which they operate.

Exclusive

The target audience is pediatricians and preschool, primary school, and secondary school teachers, both trainees and permanent teachers, from various regions of Italy and the Republic of San Marino. A paper questionnaire will be created containing three parts:
– Initial questionnaire for the collection of social data
personal data;
– Questionnaire for DPL awareness
(elaborated by Thordardottir et al., 2021 and adapted
for the Italian population by Kuvac Kraljevic et
al., 2022, adapted);
– Questionnaire for DSA awareness
(Valenti et al., 2015, adapted).

It is planned to collect a large sample of subjects: approximately 300 pediatricians from different areas of Italy/RSM, approximately 300 students of Primary Education Sciences (in the fifth year of the course), students of the teaching qualification course and 300 tenured teachers from different areas of Italy/RSM.

Status of works

The project is currently in the data collection phase.