scholarly journals Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) in Young People Leaving Care in England: A Study Profiling the Language, Literacy and Communication Abilities of Young People Transitioning from Care to Independence

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 4107
Author(s):  
Judy Clegg ◽  
Ellen Crawford ◽  
Sarah Spencer ◽  
Danielle Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Care Leavers ◽  
Language Literacy ◽  
Key Staff

Research indicates children and young people in care have a high prevalence of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) as part of a complex set of vulnerabilities. This study describes the profile of language, literacy and communication abilities of a cohort of care leavers. The language, literacy and communication abilities of 44 young people leaving care between the ages of 16 and 26 years were assessed using standardized measures. Demographic data about the young people was collected along with a survey to key staff to capture their perceptions and experiences of the language and communication abilities of these young people. Ninety percent of the care leavers’ language abilities were below average and over 60% met criteria for DLD in combination with literacy difficulties, developmental disorders and social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH). The implications of unidentified DLD on the lives of young people leaving care is discussed. Earlier identification of DLD is advocated to enable services to intervene to facilitate more positive outcomes and life chances for this very vulnerable population.

scholarly journals The Association between Parent and Child-Report Measures of Alexithymia in Children with and without Developmental Language Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8309
Author(s):  
Hannah Hobson ◽  
Neeltje P. van den Bedem
Keyword(s):  
Language Disorder ◽  
Parent Report ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Child Report ◽  
Child Reports ◽  
Expression Of Emotion ◽  
Communicative Abilities

Accurate measures of alexithymia, an inability to recognise and describe one’s own emotions, that are suitable for children are crucial for research into alexithymia’s development. However, previous research suggests that parent versus child reports of alexithymia do not correlate. Potentially, children may report on the awareness of their emotions, whereas parent-report measures may reflect children’s verbal expression of emotion, which may be confounded by children’s communicative abilities, especially in conditions such as Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Given theoretical arguments that alexithymia may develop due to language impairments, further research into alexithymia in DLD is also needed. This project examined parent and child report measures of alexithymia in children with DLD (n = 106) and without DLD (n = 183), and their association to children’s communication skills. Parent and child reports were not significantly correlated in either group, and children with DLD had higher alexithymia scores on the parent-report measure only. Thus, parent and child measures of alexithymia likely reflect different constructs. Pragmatic language problems related to more parent-reported alexithymia, over and above group membership. Structural language abilities were unrelated to alexithymia. We suggest decreased social learning opportunities, rather than a language measure artefact, underlie increased alexithymic difficulties in DLD.

scholarly journals Sustained Attention in Developmental Language Disorder and Its Relation to Working Memory and Language

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 4096-4108
Author(s):  
Erin Smolak ◽  
Karla K. McGregor ◽  
Tim Arbisi-Kelm ◽  
Nichole Eden
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Visual Spatial Working Memory

Purpose Based on evidence of deficits in domain-general cognitive abilities associated with developmental language disorder (DLD), the current study examined sustained attention performance in children with DLD compared to children with typical language development (TLD) and the interrelations between visual–spatial sustained attention, visual–spatial working memory, and language abilities across groups. Method Participants included 67 children at 7 years of age: 25 children with DLD (13 girls and 12 boys) and 42 children with TLD (23 girls and 19 boys). We assessed children's visual–spatial sustained attention, visual–spatial working memory, and language ability on a test of narrative language. Result Children with DLD scored significantly below their peers on a measure of visual–spatial sustained attention. Significant intercorrelations were observed between sustained attention, working memory, and language ability within the DLD group, but no correlations were observed between these measures in the TLD group. Conclusion Children with DLD have domain-general deficits in sustained attention, and correlational results have implications for whether and how language abilities are supported by domain-general cognition in both typical and disordered development.

scholarly journals Supporting Bilingualism in Vulnerable Populations

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 13830
Author(s):  
Maria Vender ◽  
Mirta Vernice ◽  
Antonella Sorace
Keyword(s):  
Neurodevelopmental Disorders ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Language

Although bilingualism is generally appraised and supported by society, many more doubts arise when it comes to children suffering from neurodevelopmental disorders. The concern that the exposure to two languages might deteriorate the linguistic development of children, together with the advice to simplify the linguistic environment and to adopt a monolingual approach, leads many families to abandon their home language and sacrifice bilingualism. Scientific research, however, has shown that this fear is ungrounded and that children with developmental disorders can become successful bilingual speakers, if they are provided with appropriate linguistic exposure. The aim of this paper is that of providing a state-of-the-art of the literature on this topic, by reviewing studies conducted on the interaction between bilingualism and neurodevelopmental disorders, focusing in particular on the interaction between bilingualism and developmental language disorder (DLD), developmental dyslexia and autism spectrum disorder. We discuss issues related to the early identification of DLD and dyslexia among bilinguals and we report the results of studies showing that bilingualism does not exacerbate the difficulties of children with developmental disorders, but on the contrary it can be beneficial for them, at the cognitive, linguistic and socio-cultural level. Finally, we provide some recommendations for parents, educators and practitioners, focusing on the importance of supporting the family language in all of its components, including literacy, for a complete and harmonic bilingual growth.

Developmental Language Disorder and the Assessment of Spoken Language

2021 ◽  
pp. 155-170
Author(s):  
Carol-Anne Murphy ◽  
Pauline Frizelle ◽  
Cristina McKean
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Language Sample Analysis ◽  
Language Sample

Developmental language disorder (DLD), previously known as specific language impairment (SLI), is a long-term developmental disorder affecting approximately 7.5% of children. Language abilities in children with DLD are variable and can be challenging to ascertain with confidence. This chapter aims to discuss some of the challenges associated with assessing the language skills of children with DLD through an overview of different forms of language assessment including standardized language testing, language sample analysis, and observations. Uses and limitations of the different forms of assessment are considered, bearing in mind the different functions of assessment and the need to gain a full understanding of children’s profiles of strength and weakness and communicative functioning in context. The authors conclude with requirements for best practice in assessment and promising avenues of development in this area.

scholarly journals Developmental Language Disorder and Psychopathology: Disentangling Shared Genetic and Environmental Influences

2021 ◽  
pp. 002221942110199
Author(s):  
Umar Toseeb ◽  
Olakunle Ayokunmi Oginni ◽  
Philip S. Dale
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Internalizing Problems ◽  
Externalizing Problems ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Environmental Influences ◽  
Genetic Influences ◽  
Additional Risk Factor ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Mental Health Difficulties ◽  
Current Article

There is considerable variability in the extent to which young people with developmental language disorder (DLD) experience mental health difficulties. What drives these individual differences remains unclear. In the current article, data from the Twin Early Development Study were used to investigate the genetic and environmental influences on psychopathology in children and adolescents with DLD ( n = 325) and those without DLD ( n = 865). Trivariate models were fitted to investigate etiological influences on DLD and psychopathology and bivariate heterogeneity and homogeneity models were fitted and compared to investigate quantitative differences in etiological influences on psychopathology between those with and without DLD. The genetic correlation between DLD and internalizing problems in childhood was significant, suggesting that their co-occurrence is due to common genetic influences. Similar, but nonsignificant effects were observed for externalizing problems. In addition, genetic influences on internalizing problems, but not externalizing problems, appeared to be higher in young people with DLD than those without DLD, suggesting that the presence of DLD may exacerbate genetic risk for internalizing problems. These findings indicate that genetic influences on internalizing problems may also confer susceptibility to DLD (or vice versa) and that DLD serves as an additional risk factor for those with a genetic predisposition for internalizing problems.

scholarly journals Developmental Language Disorder and Psychopathology: Disentangling Shared Genetic and Environmental Influences

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umar Toseeb ◽  
Olakunle Oginni ◽  
Philip Dale
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Environmental Influences ◽  
Genetic Influences ◽  
Additional Risk Factor ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Additional Risk ◽  
Externalising Problems ◽  
Mental Health Difficulties ◽  
Internalising Problems

There is considerable variability in the extent to which young people with developmental language disorder (DLD) experience mental health difficulties. What drives these individual differences remains unclear. In the current paper, data from the Twin Early Development Study were used to investigate the genetic and environmental influences on psychopathology in children and adolescents with DLD (n=325) and those without DLD (n=865). Trivariate ACE models were fitted to investigate aetiological influences on DLD and psychopathology and bivariate heterogeneity and homogeneity models were fitted and compared to investigate quantitative differences in aetiological influences on psychopathology between the groups. The genetic correlation between DLD and internalising problems in childhood was significant suggesting that the co-occurrence is due common genetic influences. Similar, but non-significant, effects were also observed for externalising problems. In addition, genetic influences on internalising problems, but not externalising problems, appeared to be higher in young people with DLD than those without DLD suggesting that the presence of DLD may exacerbate genetic risk for internalising problems. These findings suggest that genetic influences on internalising problems may also confer susceptibility to DLD (or vice versa) and that DLD serves as an additional risk factor for those with a genetic predisposition for internalising problems.

Evaluation of a Combined Explicit–Implicit Approach to Teach Grammatical Forms to Children With Grammatical Weaknesses

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-79
Author(s):  
Lizbeth Finestack ◽  
Jennifer Engman ◽  
Timothy Huang ◽  
Katherine J. Bangert ◽  
Kaela Bader
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Implicit Instruction ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Implicit Approach

Purpose Many children with developmental disorders experience difficulty mastering grammatical forms, including children with developmental language disorder and a subset of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One of the key language features in both of these populations is a weakness in the expressive use of grammatical forms. There is a paucity of studies that evaluate the effectiveness of interventions targeting grammatical forms for populations other than developmental language disorder. The current study evaluated a combined explicit–implicit intervention approach to teach grammatical forms to children with ASD symptomology. Method Researchers used a single-subject, nonconcurrent multiple baseline, A-B-C study design. Three children with characteristics of ASD (2 with formal diagnoses) between the ages of 5 and 9 years participated in treatment targeting a weak grammatical structure. After baseline, each participant completed a series of treatment sessions that comprised implicit instruction, followed by a series of treatment sessions that incorporated explicit instruction. Accuracy of use was assessed during each session across baseline, implicit-only, and explicit–implicit conditions as well as 1 week, 1 month, and 2 months posttreatment. Results All participants produced target forms with low accuracy across baseline and implicit-only treatment sessions. Within three explicit–implicit treatment sessions, all participants demonstrated a marked increase in level and upward trend in their production accuracy. Gains in accuracy were maintained 2 months posttreatment for 2 of the 3 participants. Conclusions The current study provides preliminary evidence to support the use of explicit approaches to teach grammatical forms to children with ASD symptomology and motivates further investigation in this area.

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