Assessing School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists' Perspectives on Neurodiversity-Affirming Practices for Autistic...

Area of Science:

• Speech-language pathology
• Developmental psychology
• Education

Background:

• The neurodiversity movement advocates for viewing autism and other neurological differences as natural variations.
• There is a growing need to understand how educational professionals, particularly speech-language pathologists (SLPs), integrate neurodiversity-affirming (ND-affirming) practices into their work with autistic students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate school-based SLPs' understanding and application of ND-affirming practices for autistic students.
• To assess the alignment between current clinical practices of school-based SLPs and ND-affirming principles.

Main Methods:

• An online survey was administered to 150 school-based SLPs.
• The survey included Likert scale and multiple-choice questions assessing beliefs and perspectives on ND-affirming practices.
• Participants' responses were analyzed to determine alignment with ND-affirming goal areas and therapy approaches versus the medical model.

Main Results:

• Nearly 92% of SLPs surveyed were aware of the neurodiversity movement.
• However, 54% lacked confidence in implementing ND-affirming goals and therapy for autistic students.
• A significant gap was observed, with only 2-3% of participants demonstrating full alignment with ND-affirming goal writing and therapy approaches.

Conclusions:

• Most school-based SLPs' current practices do not fully align with ND-affirming principles in goal writing and treatment.
• Social media emerged as a primary source of information regarding the neurodiversity movement.
• There is a clear need for enhanced professional development and training for SLPs to effectively implement ND-affirming strategies.