Language Disabilities in Children Developmental Language Delays School Age Language Disabilities Developmental Language Delays DLD Delay in language skills compared to peers o Can be in any part of language Form Content Use o Not language differences dialects o Infant and pre school ages Wide variety o Delays may be Expressive or receptive Mild or severe Can occur even before the child uses first words o Pre language skills Gestures joint attention poor social skills Language Disabilities in Children Symptoms Causes o First sign late onset of first words o Slow progression to 2 words and more o Slow vocabulary and concept development o Slow to use language to interact socially o Delays pre reading and early academic skills o May also be slow in developing speech o Prenatal during gestation Maternal age Adequacy of prenatal care Maternal health and nutrition Drug use during pregnancy Family history of developmental delays o Perinatal at or around the time of birth Prematurity Low birth weight Brain hemorrhage Respiratory problems Hyperbilirubinemia o Postnatal after birth Bonding and attachment issues Socioeconomic status Educational level of parents Chronic otitis media Conditions that may include DLD o Genetic and chromosomal disorders o Sensory deficits o Neurological impairments o Exposure to drugs and alcohol o Autism and pervasive developmental disorders o Specific language impairment Genetic and chromosomal disorders o Down syndrome o Fragile X syndrome o Usually display global developmental disorders delays o Develop speech language skills in same order as typically developing children but at a slower rate Developmental Language Delays Sensory deficits hearing and vision o Visual impairment alone o Some genetic and or birth defects affect both o Hearing deficits Neurological Conditions o Cerebral palsy o Many have delays in language development and many have cognitive deficits o Motor control and speech deficits common o Many need an augmentative alternative communication system language semantics Autism Spectrum Disorders Impaired social awareness pragmatics o Lack of eye contact facial expression o Failure to develop peer family relationships or interaction o Avoids physical contact Impaired communication skills o Delay or lack of spoken language with no attempt to communicate in any other way o Inability to initiate or sustain a conversation o Repetitive stereotypical speech echolalia Stereotypical repetitive patterns of behavior o Preoccupation with restricted interest o Inflexible adherence to specific non functional routines o Repetitive or stereotypical motor movements Sensory Issues o Hypersensitivity to sensory information o Abnormal sensory responses Conditions that may include DLD Genetic and chromosomal disorders Sensory deficits hearing vision Neurological impairments Exposure to drugs alcohol Autism and pervasive developmental disorders PDD Specific language impairment SLI Children with Specific Language Impairment SLI Language delay NOT the result of ANY SPECIFIC identifiable condition Usually etiology is never found Some studies show very subtle changes in brain structures in kids with SLI but no exact correlation More boys then girls Usually a family history of language and learning problems Language Characteristics of SLI vary across children o May be in just expressive language or receptive language or both o Limited vocabulary o Shorter utterances average 5 year old using 5 words o Problems with syntactic rules o Often have reading problems when school age Identifying DLD Some can be identified at birth Normal variation in language development makes diagnosis more difficult Use what we know about normal development to judge disorders Chart on pg 342 shows normal development Variations with children who are learning two languages simultaneously or subsequently Assessment for DLD age Good assessment needs multiple measures Norm referenced tests standardized to compare to other children of same Criterion referenced tests looks at performance on developmentally appropriate tasks often checklist Parent report valuable Is an on going process changes rapidly 10 14 Language Sampling A way to assess language in children without using any tests Play activity Know what you are looking for Measure mean length of utterance MLU in morphemes Greater number of morphemes indicate more complex use of language Treatment for DLD Some services mandated by federal law Many provided in home 0 3 or in play group centers or combination Natural settings are best Parent involvement training essential Therapists role is as much to train the parent as to fix the child Ages 3 5 usually preschool type setting Some services will be life long down syndrome Language Disabilities in School Age Children School Age Language Disabilities Specific language impairment SLI Language learning disabilities LLD sensory or physical deficits o NOT language differences o Problems with language that are NOT related to cognitive emotional Wide variety of types and can affect different modes and or components Language expectations of academic settings School language needs are usually more complex than home Good language skills needed for o Reading texts o Following directions o Solving problems o Learning to read and write o Successful interactions with others Receptive Language Disorders Problems attaching meaning to info received Carrying out directions Understanding explanations Difficulty reasoning Detecting missing or wrong information Difficulty retelling stories giving explanations paraphrasing and discussing Identifying important information information Expressive Language Disorders Difficulty producing well formed sentences and longer utterances Problems selecting and retrieving words to convey complex or abstract ideas Problems talking about events in the past Problems with complicated syntax embedded clauses conditional words Tend to use non specific or filler words In real life Usually test scores determine who gets the services 10 19 Identifying School Age Language Disabilities Look for discrepancy in performance o Language vs non language tasks Functioning in the school environment o Interviews with teachers parents o Analysis of schoolwork Assessing Language Performance Areas to look at Sentence comprehension and processing Vocabulary knowledge Word retrieval Use of grammatical rules Story comprehensions and or production Social and conversational interactions Figurative language