A Survey of Knowledge and Beliefs regarding Autism in Speech-Language Pathologists in India.

BACKGROUND: Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are significant team members in the identification, assessment, and rehabilitation of children with autism. With a recent upsurge in the number of children with autism, there arises a need to examine SLPs knowledge and skills in identification and intervention of children with autism.

AIM: The present study is, thus, a novel attempt aimed to investigate knowledge and belief of SLPs in the assessment and intervention of autism in the Indian context.

METHOD: A total of 219 SLPs participated in a web-based online survey. The study adopted a cross-sectional observational research design.

RESULTS: The results of the study showed around 43% of the total SLPs obtained a good score on the knowledge section and 27% received a positive rating for the belief section. Additionally, factors like "educational qualification," "duration of clinical experience," and "caseload of children with autism" influenced knowledge and beliefs of SLPs about autism.

CONCLUSION: The study results indicate that SLPs practicing in India show average and below average scores on a questionnaire assessing knowledge and beliefs regarding autism. The study findings have implications towards developing improved training and course structure related to assessment and intervention of children with autism for SLPs practicing in India.