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Professionals' perceptions of the role of literacy in early intervention services
Author(s) -
Thatcher Karen,
Fletcher Kathryn
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/pits.20312
Subject(s) - psychology , intervention (counseling) , literacy , perception , medical education , occupational therapy , developmental psychology , applied psychology , clinical psychology , pedagogy , medicine , psychiatry , neuroscience
The purpose of the current study was to examine therapists' perceptions about literacy in early intervention services. Little effort has been devoted to the incorporation of literacy into therapy services for very young children with special needs. In an attempt to understand how therapy providers view the role of literacy in their services, 168 providers were surveyed. Responses were compared and in general, speech therapists and developmental therapists reported similar rates of use of books and rhymes and similar attitudes about the role of literacy in services. In contrast, occupational and physical therapists were often similar in their responses, yet, in most analyses, their responses were significantly different than the speech and developmental therapists'. This trend mirrors the existing literature that more attention has been devoted to encouraging the incorporation of literacy into speech services than other therapy services. Implications for these different practices and attitudes across disciplines are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.