Knowledge and Attitudes of Public Preschool Teachers on Speech and Language Problems in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2025-12-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Speech and language disorders are common in early childhood with prevalence of 6%around the globe.It’s also confirmed that early detection of speech and language disorders and treatment in the critical period lead to better overall outcomes. Preschool teachers spend most of their time with children and they are the ones who notice if there is anything wrong or an unusual thing is going on with a child. Preschool teachers play a key role in detecting children with speech and language disorders. And they are one of the team members who should continuously be in contact with SLTs about the generalization of the learned abilities in therapy settings and to prevent dropouts. So this study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude of public preschool teachers in selected schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. While conducting the research a cross-sectional study was employed among 150 public preschool teachers in Addis Ababa using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. The sampling procedure involved multistage and convenient sampling techniques. The questionnaire assessed socio-demographic data, knowledge levels related to speech and language disorders, and attitudes towards affected children. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 27, employing descriptive statistics to categorize knowledge as good, satisfactory, or poor, and attitude as positive or negative. And also inferential statistics analysis were performed to test hypothesis and examine significant differences between participant groups at 95% confidence interval( p< 0.05).Findings reveled that only 13.3% of teachers possessed good knowledge of speech and language disorders, while a majority(53.3%)demonstrated poor knowledge. Despite this, 59% of the participants exhibited positive attitude towards children with speech and language difficulties, supporting early identification and intervention strategies. Although preschool teachers generally hold positive attitudes toward children with speech and language problems, their knowledge levels remain inadequate. This gap emphasizes the need for targeted training programs, professional development, and collaborative efforts with speech-language pathologists to enhance early detection and support for affected children
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supporting early identification and intervention strategies