A survey of public school speech language pathologists: Knowledge of Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorders

The purpose of the study was to assess public school speech-language pathologists' knowledge of Asperger Syndrome (AS) and Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs) by survey.; Respondents correctly answered an average of 6.5 questions regarding the outstanding characteristics of AS. Seventeen percent of the respondents correctly identified PDDs and 46% correctly identified the outstanding characteristics of PDDs. Sixteen percent correctly differentiated AS from PDDs and 46% correctly differentiated AS from similar disorders. On average, respondents reported themselves to be “slightly familiar” with AS and PDDs and “slightly confident” in treatment.; The importance of increasing SLPs' knowledge of Asperger Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorders was underscored by the results of this study. Due to the increasing number of clients diagnosed with PDDs (including AS), SLPs in public schools are likely to encounter these students. Speech language pathologists that have a general knowledge of PDDs will be more familiar and confident with these disorders.