Speech-language therapist perceptions of dialect and risk for disorder in African American English speaking children

African American children have historically been disproportionately represented in special education categories, including in speech-language impairment. One reason cited for this disproportionality is biased assessment methods. In the field of communicative disorders the speech-language therapist (SLT) is considered the ultimate assessment instrument; therefore, the SLT needs to have working knowledge of the rule-based nature of the nonmainstream English (NME) speaker's dialect and an unbiased attitude toward NME dialects. The present study explored SLT listener judgment of African American children's dialectal variation and risk for disorder, and the effect of attitudes towards African American English (AAE) on SLT judgment of risk for language disorder.;Twenty-two school SLTs completed survey questionnaires about language diversity and a subgroup of 10 SLTs viewed videotaped narratives of 6 African American children aged 4 to 8 years, using listener judgment rating scales to evaluate the children's language behaviors. The children's dialectal variation ranged from low- to high-density AAE and their language ability ranged from typical language to language impairment.;SLTs listener judgment accuracy for dialectal variation and risk for disorder was below the expected 90%. Results indicate that SLTs have received more information about differential diagnosis of nonmainstream American dialect speakers in the last 5 to 10 years than SLTs who graduated more than 10 years ago. Descriptive statistics indicated that the more recently graduated SLTs had greater accuracy in dialectal variation and risk for disorder judgments.;SLT evaluative comments demonstrated a frequent perception of AAE features as "incorrect language" or "incorrect grammar." Descriptive statistical analysis indicated that bias against AAE led some SLTs to misjudge the typically developing high-density AAE speaker as language impaired, a Type I error, while bias in favor of Mainstream American English led some SLTs to misjudge the language-impaired low-density AAE speaker as typically developing, a Type II error.;The data strongly suggest that unexamined bias toward AAE can have negative effects on SLTs' ability to make accurate judgments about African American children's language development. Recommendations are made for sociolinguistic training and intensive NME assessment practice in communicative disorders programs.