Developmental language disorder (DLD) can be challenging for school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs)—because DLD can’t be seen. The hidden nature of this disorder has inspired the theme of this year’s DLD Awareness Day, “You can’t see DLD.”
Children may receive a diagnosis of DLD if they have difficulty learning, understanding, or using language in the absence of other diagnoses—such as hearing loss or autism. We’re recognizing DLD Awareness Day by featuring some trending articles on this topic—articles that you can use in your work with children who have DLD.
Parental Input, Conversational Interventions, and More
Parental Input and Its Relationship With Language Outcomes in Children With (Suspected) Developmental Language Disorder: A Systematic Review: Parental input plays an important role in typical language development, but we know less about its impact for children with DLD. This review shows that, for children with DLD, supportive and responsive behaviors from parents play an important role in language development.
“Better Conversations With Developmental Language Disorder”: Feasibility and Findings From an Initial Evaluation of a Novel Intervention: Single-word and sentence-level interventions for children with DLD can be effective but may not lead to gains in conversational behaviors. Learn about a conversation-focused intervention grounded in communication partner training and parent–child interaction therapy.
Exploring Self-Reported Quality of Life in Developmental Language Disorder: Understanding quality of life in older children and teenagers with DLD may help you address functional challenges when working with younger children. Although the individuals surveyed reported a high quality of life, they also discuss barriers they’ve encountered.
Does Executive Function Performance Predict Treatment Response in Preschoolers With Developmental Language Disorder? Finding factors that predict treatment response can help you set realistic goals and have frank discussions with caregivers. Researchers found that attention-shifting was the only significant positive forecaster of treatment outcomes.
Shared Book-Reading Activities
Word Learning in Children With Developmental Language Disorder: The Use of Retrieval Practice During Shared Book Reading: This study takes DLD treatment techniques from the lab and introduces them in a shared book-reading activity. Read about how word retrieval practices can facilitate novel word learning.
Interactive Book Reading to Accelerate Word Learning by Kindergarten Children With Developmental Language Disorder: Incorporating Retrieval-Based Practice Into Training: During interactive book-reading activities, both passive training strategies and retrieval-based practices can support word learning and retention. These results show that interactive book reading can effectively support word learning in children with DLD, regardless of demographics or standardized test scores.
Additional Resources
If you’re looking for even more DLD resources, start with this 2024 forum in AJSLP highlighting best practices when working with children with DLD. We’ve published dozens of articles on DLD already this year, so be sure to check out ASHAWire and run a search to make sure you’re not missing anything.
This awareness day provides you with an opportunity to share resources and discuss how ASHA members like you help children with DLD communicate! We may not be able to see DLD, but research and advocacy allow us to better identify and work with children who have DLD—and help them succeed in school and beyond!
