Developmental language disorder in the classroom By Caitlin Malli (she/her), speech language pathologist, Saanich THERE IS A HIDDEN DISABILITY that you may see in as many as two children in every classroom. This disability is called developmental language disorder (DLD). People with DLD have difficulties with language without another biomedical condition, like autism or moderate intellectual disability. DLD emerges in childhood but is a persistent, life-long condition. DLD has a genetic and biological basis, such as subtle brain differences. These risks can be mediated by environmental input. While the language challenges experienced by students with DLD may not always be as obvious as other language impairments, such as speech sound disorders, studies estimate that 7–10% of children present with a language disorder without a known cause (i.e., DLD). This could be as many as 40,000 students in the BC public school system! As students with DLD do not “sound” different, they are not always identified prior to school or in early school years, continuing with a “hidden disability.” With DLD being so common, it is important for educators to talk about it in schools, learn more about its effects,
Difficulty relating sounds to letters
Smaller vocabulary
Mixing up sounds
and learn how to identify students with DLD early on. Until recently, there was no agreed-upon term to describe DLD. Instead, there were several different terms used to describe this condition, including receptive-expressive language challenges, language processing difficulties, speech language impairment, or a language delay. Developmental language disorder is the term selected by a multinational and multidisciplinary consensus study.1 Through common terminology internationally and across professions, we can better raise awareness about this condition and advocate for supports and resources. In the classroom, children with language difficulties may struggle with learning, literacy, social relationships, mental health, and behaviour. Each student with DLD will have a different profile of language strengths and stretches (see Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder’s infographic below). Awareness of DLD characteristics is especially important for children with mild language challenges. Just because a student can hold a conversation does not mean their language is “fine.” Subtle challenges with learning new vocabulary, following complex directions,
Difficulty remembering sounds/words
Difficulty working with sounds
Communicating In different situations
Uses nonspecific words
WORDS
Trouble understanding/ learning words
Trouble recalling words
#ThinkLanguage #ThinkDLD 8 TEACHER May/June 2022
Missing key/whole words
Trouble learning a pattern
Difficulty following directions
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
Difficulties having conversations
Missing social cues Hard to follow stories
Difficulties ordering words
Missing parts of words
Difficulties reading between the lines
Out of sequence
RADLD.ORG