Effect of Labeling Bias on Diagnostic Decision Making for Developmentally Delayed Children

The purpose of the current study is to determine if labeling a child during the re-evaluation process affects the decision making of school team members, specifically school psychologists, regular education teachers, and special education teachers. It was hypothesized that participants who were exposed to a vignette that labeled a developmentally delayed student as having ODD would report higher likelihood ratings of the presence of ODD symptomology in the student as opposed to participants who were not exposed to a label. Methods consisted of an online survey in which participants were presented a vignette describing a student, either with or without an ODD label, and were asked to rate the likelihood of the student having ODD, ADHD, ID, or No Exceptionality. Findings showed participants who were exposed to the vignette containing the ODD label were more likely to report higher likelihood ratings of the presence of ODD symptomology in the student. This study suggests a need to avoid qualifying a student for the developmentally delay using the criteria of another special education category