“Man famlar lite i mörkret” : Lärares erfarenheter och upplevelser av att arbeta med barn med språkstörning

Sammanfattning: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a communication disorder which can greatly affect a child’s ability to achieve academic goals. In Sweden, all children have the right to receive the support they need in school. To ensure the needs of students with DLD are being met, more studies are needed regarding teachers’ knowledge about DLD as a diagnosis, their experiences related to working with these students, and their experiences of relevant interprofessional teamwork. The purpose of this study is therefore to shed light on the professional situation for teachers of students with DLD. The results of the study are based on focus group interviews with 19 teachers from 17 different counties in Sweden. The interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using content analysis. The study found that the participating teachers experience DLD as a diagnosis which greatly affects students’ goal achievement as well as their socio-emotional well being. The participants also underlined the lack of instruction related to DLD in teacher training programs and described that this lack of instruction sometimes led them to feel unprepared in their work with these students. Interprofessional collaboration was lifted as an especially important aspect of work with children with DLD, but many experienced the circumstances at their workplace as suboptimal for effective teamwork. The teachers specifically expressed a desire for more collaboration with SLPs and highlighted the importance of knowledgeable and competent school leadership. The results of the study indicate a need for children with DLD to be more highly prioritized both in the education of teachers but also in the allocation of resources within schools. Additionally, in order to achieve more equitable access to education for these students, teachers feel that SLPs need to be more closely involved at the school level.