Education Students' Overestimation of the Prevalence of Learning Disabilities

Abstract

A number of studies have suggested that educators overestimate the prevalence of learning disabilities in the schools. In this study, we found that 339 first- and second-year education students estimated the prevalence of learning disabilities to be four times higher than the upper limits of prevalence established by experts. Given that mislabelling students as ‘learning disabled’ may have negative consequences for them, the meaning, etiology, and prevalence of students' learning problems should be addressed by training institutions.