Specific Language Impairments

10 Key excerpts on "Specific Language Impairments"

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  Developmental Disorders of Language Learning and Cognition

  • Charles Hulme, Margaret J. Snowling(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Wiley-Blackwell

    (Publisher)

  4 Specific Language Impairment Problems in understanding or producing language are among the most frustrating and isolating handicaps that a child can experience. The term specific language impairment (SLI) is used to refer to children whose oral language skills are much worse than expected given their nonverbal ability (NVIQ) and where other known causes (e.g., deafness) cannot explain the disorder. Recent evidence suggests that SLI is a neurobiological disorder, the development of which depends heavily upon genetic risk factors. However, there is considerable heterogeneity among children with SLI in the pattern of language difficulties that they show; as we shall see, some children with SLI have speech difficulties while others do not, some have difficulties with the social use of language, and others may be effective communicators despite difficulties with expressive language skills. Definition and Prevalence The term Communication Disorders is used in DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) to describe children who are referred to clinically as SLI whose scores obtained on individually administered measures of language development are below expectation given “nonverbal intellectual capacity.” The term can also be applied if a child has suffered an accompanying sensory deficit, learning difficulties, or environmental deprivation, provided that the language difficulties are in excess of those usually associated with these other problems. DSM-IV goes on to distinguish several types of communicative disorder, including expressive disorder (primarily affecting language production), mixed expressive–receptive disorder (affecting language comprehension and production), and phonological disorder (affecting the use of speech sounds to signal meaning). (DSM-IV also has the diagnostic categories of Stuttering and Communication Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

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  The Cambridge Handbook of Communication Disorders

  • Louise Cummings(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  5 Specific language impairment Susan Ellis Weismer 5.1 Terminology and classification The term ‘specific language impairment’ (SLI) is used to refer to a type of developmental language disorder associated with no known sensory, neurological, intellectual or emotional deficits (Bishop 1997; Leonard 1998). Children with SLI form a heterogeneous group in terms of their linguistic profiles. Receptive and expressive language abilities can be affected in various domains of language, including phonology, morph- ology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Receptive language is relatively stronger than expressive language in most children with SLI, though this can vary across individual children. Historically, a number of taxonomies have been proposed to delineate subgroups of children with SLI. Subgroup distinctions based on language modality (i.e. receptive versus expressive language) were identified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association 1994). However, Leonard (2009a) has argued per- suasively against the construct of purely expressive language impairment (other than in segmental phonology and prosody) on both theoretical and empirical grounds. The proposed DSM-5 classification of ‘language disor- ders’ does not include this distinction (American Psychiatric Association 2013). Taxonomies focused on language domains that have been used most recently for research and clinical purposes include Grammatical-SLI (G-SLI) and Pragmatic Language Impairment (PLI). The G-SLI subgroup has been the focus of studies by van der Lely and colleagues (Gallon et al. 2007; van der Lely and Marshall 2011). This subgroup is defined on the basis of deficits in syntax, morphology and phonology. Children whose primary deficits involve pragmatic aspects of language and communication rather than structural language have been referred to as having PLI (Botting and

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  Uncommon Understanding

  Development and Disorders of Language Comprehension in Children

  • Dorothy V.M. Bishop(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  2

  Specific language impairment

     

  In general, language acquisition is a stubbornly robust process; from what we can tell there is virtually no way to prevent it from happening short of raising a child in a barrel .

  Pinker (1984, p.29)

  OVERVIEW

  1.

  The question “why do some children have difficulty learning language?” can be answered at several different levels: in terms of neurobiology, etiology, and underlying cognitive processes. Although this book is primarily concerned with the last of these, this chapter reviews neurobiological and etiological aspects.

  2.

  Before looking at causal issues, the chapter considers the definition of specific language impairment (SLI), which is the term applied to a child whose language development is substantially below age level, for no apparent cause. The diagnosis raises numerous conceptual problems. We need to consider how language should be assessed, which conditions should be excluded, whether IQ is important, and how to take into account age-related changes. Traditional notions, such as the use of statistical cut-offs to identify language impairment, and the importance of establishing a mismatch between language and nonverbal IQ, will be challenged in this chapter.

  3.

  Although most authorities agree that SLI is heterogeneous, there is little consensus about how it should be subclassified. The traditional distinction between expressive and receptive subtypes is unsatisfactory, for two reasons: first, the boundary between the two subtypes is hard to draw because most children with SLI have comprehension problems when properly assessed, and, second, there are many different forms that a comprehension problem can take. Linguistically based classifications seem more promising but await proper validation.

  4.

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  Uncommon Understanding (Classic Edition)

  Development and disorders of language comprehension in children

  • Dorothy V. M. Bishop(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  2

  SPECIFIC LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT

   

  In general, language acquisition is a stubbornly robust process; from what we can tell there is virtually no way to prevent it from happening short of raising a child in a barrel .

  Pinker (1984, p.29)

  Overview

  1. The question ‘why do some children have difficulty learning language?’ can be answered at several different levels: in terms of neurobiology, etiology, and underlying cognitive processes. Although this book is primarily concerned with the last of these, this chapter reviews neurobiological and etiological aspects.

  2. Before looking at causal issues, the chapter considers the definition of specific language impairment (SLI), which is the term applied to a child whose language development is substantially below age level, for no apparent cause. The diagnosis raises numerous conceptual problems. We need to consider how language should be assessed, which conditions should be excluded, whether IQ is important, and how to take into account age-related changes. Traditional notions, such as the use of statistical cut-offs to identify language impairment, and the importance of establishing a mismatch between language and nonverbal IQ, will be challenged in this chapter.

  3. Although most authorities agree that SLI is heterogeneous, there is little consensus about how it should be subclassified. The traditional distinction between expressive and receptive subtypes is unsatisfactory, for two reasons: first, the boundary between the two subtypes is hard to draw because most children with SLI have comprehension problems when properly assessed, and, second, there are many different forms that a comprehension problem can take. Linguistically based classifications seem more promising but await proper validation.

  4.

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  Developing, Modelling and Assessing Second Languages :

  • Mathias Liebner, Anke Lenzing, Jörg-U. Keßler(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • John Benjamins Publishing Company

    (Publisher)

   . /palart. . hak ©  John Benjamins Publishing Company Processability Teory and language development in children with Specifc Language Impairment Gisela Håkansson Lund University Children with Specifc Language Impairment (SLI) represent a special group among young monolingual children, since they have problems acquiring their frst language. Most research deals with English-speaking children, and points to bound morphology as the problematic area. However, cross-linguistic studies show that SLI characteristics difer between languages, and that it is not always bound morphology that is afected but sometimes other phenomena, for example syntax or function word s. Te seemingly contradictory fndings can be accommodated within Processability Teory (PT) and from the point of view of feature unifcation at diferent levels of processability. Focussing on individual performances instead of group means changes the perspective and makes it possible to analyze children with SLI as learners along a developmental continuum. . Introduction Not all children develop their frst language in an unproblematic way, but some exhibit considerable difculties in phonological, grammatical, lexical and/or pragmatic aspects of language. Approximately 5–7 % of all children are diagnosed with Specifc Language Impairment (SLI), most ofen with some grammatical problems. Te two main questions within research on SLI are: 1. What is the problem; is it a representational defcit or an auditory processing defcit? 2. Are there specifc structures that are “vulnerable”, i.e. likely to be afected? Te traditional method in SLI research is to analyse production or comprehension data from children diagnosed with SLI and compare it to two control groups. One group consists of peers of the same age (age-matched) and the other of children who are younger but have the same utterance length measured in Mean Length of Utterance (MLU match). Te most interesting comparison is that between younger

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  Language Development

  • Patricia J. Brooks, Vera Kempe(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • BPS Blackwell

    (Publisher)

  dyspraxia a motor- learning difficulty associated with impaired planning of movement and coordination. 238 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT • Neuroimaging studies suggest that children with SLI show abnormalities related to reduced hemispheric asymmetry in cortical and subcortical areas that are involved in language processing. • While some children diagnosed as ‘late talkers’ around 2 years of age catch up in their language development, children with SLI show persistent impairments later on which can often be predicted by reduced vocabulary size at an earlier age. • A number of explanations for SLI have been suggested which mainly differ in whether the assumed core deficit is strictly language-related or whether it encompasses more general cognitive abilities. • Language-specific explanations suggest that SLI is the result of deficient grammatical representations such as a lack of representations of obliga- tory morphological marking or difficulties with representation and processing of hierarchical syntactic representations. • General cognitive explanations suggest that deficits in non-linguistic abili- ties such as general auditory processing or working memory capacity can have cascading effects for language development. It has also been sug- gested that SLI may be the result of a procedural deficit which underlies motor skill learning and motor coordination of articulation, as well as statistical learning of sequences. FURTHER READING Key studies For evidence on deficits in statistical learning in children with SLI, read Evans, J. L., Saffran, J. R. & Robe-Torres, K. (2009). Statistical learning in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52, 321–335. Overview articles For overviews of potential causes of SLI, read Ullman, M. T. & Pierpont, E. I. (2005). Specific Language Impairment is not specific to language: The procedural deficit hypothesis.

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  Learning Disabilities

  An International Perspective

  • Carolyn S. Ryan(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • IntechOpen

    (Publisher)

  England: Psychological Press; 2014. ISBN: 9780203381472 [2] Leonard LB. Children with Specific Language Impairment. MA: MIT Press; 2014. ISBN: 9780262027069 [3] Hulme C, Snowling MJ. Developmental Disorders of Language Learning and Cognition. Chichester, U.K.; Wiley; 2009. ISBN: 9780631206118 [4] Specific Language Impairment. (2017) Available from: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/ voice/pages/specific-language-impairment.aspx [Accessed: February 2, 2017] [5] Tomblin JB, Records NL, Buckwalter P, Zhang X, Smith E, O’Brien M. Prevalence of spe -cific language impairment in kindergarten children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 1997; 40 :1245-1260. DOI: 10.1044/jslhr.4006.1245 [6] Schuller B, Steidl S, Batliner A, Burkhardt F, Devillers L, Müller Ch, Narayanan S. Paralinguistics in speech and language—state-of-the-art and the challenge. Computer Speech and Language. 2013; 27 (1):4-39. ISSN: 0885-2308 [7] Bishop DVM, Adams CV, Norbury CF. Distinct genetic influences on grammar and pho -nological short-term memory deficits: Evidence from 6-year-old twins. Genes, Brain and Behavior. 2006. PMID: 16507007. DOI: 10.1111/j.1601-183x.2005.00148.x [8] Kohnert K, Windsor J, Ebert KD. Primary or/specific/language impairment and children learning a second language. Brain and Language. 2009; 109 (2-3);101-111 . DOI: 10.1016/j. bandl.2008.01.009 [9] Archibald LM, Gathercole SE. Short-term and working memory in specific language impairment. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. 2006; 41 :675-693 . Blackwell Publishing Ltd, U.K.; DOI: 10.1080/13682820500442602 [10] Montgomery JW, Magimairaj BM, Finney MC. Working memory and specific language impairment: An update on the relation and perspectives on assessment and treatment. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 2010; 19 :78-94. DOI: 10.1044/1058-0360 [11] Bishop DVM, Snowling MJ. Developmental dyslexia and specific language impair -ment: Same or different? Psychological Bulletin.

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  Children Beyond Labels

  Understanding Standardised Assessment and Managing Additional Learning Needs in Primary School

  • Rhian Spence(Author)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  For example, a child may present with unintelligible speech, but age appropriate receptive language (understanding) and expressive language (use of appropriate spoken vocabulary and sentence construction). A different child may struggle with expressive language but demonstrate age appropriate receptive language. Occasionally, apparently effective expressive language will mask weak receptive language, with children managing to use a range of learned phrases/sentences in correct context, yet with little understanding. Speech and language therapists are often very interested in children's non-verbal assessment outcomes (such as those achieved with Raven's Matrices - see Appendix I). High scores here, contrasted with weak language scores, can also indicate a Specific Language Impairment/ Disorder. Indeed, speech and language therapy is often only provided to children in mainstream schools who have Specific rather than General Language Impairment. This is on the basis that these children are considered more capable of making significant progress, learning to implement self-supportive strategies and generalise their learning more readily and independently, as a result of their higher cognitive ability. Where Specific Language Impairment/Disorder is suspected, referral to a Speech and Language Therapist for detailed specialist assessment and advice is, therefore, very important. Specific Language Impairment/Language Disorder case examples (Benjamin, Rya and Tomasz) Benjamin (English is home and sole language) Benjamin presented with likely Specific Language Impairment at an early stage. We met when he was five years, six months and in a Reception class. On transfer from school's Nursery he had been described as very able, with an apparently photographic memory; this was largely because he had acquired excellent knowledge of letters and their corresponding sounds (phonics) and had learned to read a number of whole words, by sight, with automatic recall

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  Principles of Psychiatric Genetics

  • John I. Nurnberger, Jr, Wade Berrettini(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  A number of studies have established the necessity for phonemic awareness in reading ability, and recent studies have also demonstrated that rapid serial naming is also an important skill for reading (reviewed in [1]). These endophenotypes, presumably closer to the etiology of reading problems, appear to be better measures for genetic studies of reading. Similarly, specific language impairment (SLI), the second most common learning disability at about 7% of 6 year olds [5], is defined as unexplained deficits in receptive and/or expressive language skills, without any evidence of deficits in nonverbal IQ, neurological impairment, or environmental or emotional prob- lems that could explain the language delays. These deficits can be seen in some or all of five global language domains: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics [5–7] (see [8] for review). There have been several theories regarding the com- ponent skills necessary for language, and this has affected the endophenotypes used in genetic studies. There is growing consensus that nonword repetition is important, and this has been used as the diagnostic phenotype in some studies such as those by the SLI Consortium [9, 10]. Mastering the morphology of grammar is also a core skill [11], and at least one study has shown that both may be needed to produce SLI [12]. An additional language disability, speech sound disorder (SSD), concerns developmentally inappro- priate articulation problems that interfere with intel- ligibility. The prevalence is about 8% [13]. SSD is sometimes included with SLI, and has also been divided into a phonologic disorder, considered to be a central deficit, and developmental dyspraxia (or childhood apraxia of speech), which is a motor dis- order confined to articulation [14]. It is not clear that these are etiologically distinct disorders, however. Overall, SSD shares a phonological component with reading disability, but also includes an articulation component.

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  The Development of Language

  • Martyn Barrett(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  Because of individual differences in rate of language development, it may not always be easy to distinguish between a delay that represents a normal child at the bottom end of the normal distribution, and a child who is genuinely impaired. In a longitudinal study Bishop and Edmundson (1987) identified a group of 87 SLI children at 4 years of age. Eighteen months later, when tested again, about half the cohort could be characterised as within normal limits. Whatever problems they had at 4 years were resolved. For those children who in the school-age years continue to be language-impaired, delay is never simple. The indications are that they never catch up, and that oral language problems are succeeded by educational difficulties, and later social problems (Haynes, 1992). For researchers also, delay constitutes a challenge, if it means that an immature grammatical system fossilises and fails to develop further. As with any other aspect of development, failure to thrive is a cause for concern and requires an explanation. The question is: Why do those children reliably identified as persisting language-impaired fail to pass smoothly and effortlessly through the remainder of the acquisition process with the facility shown by their normal counterparts?

  Deficits are identified via the methodology that looks cross-sectionally at SLIs and language-matched controls, and finds significant differences in their performance on measures of interest. An example has already been discussed in the work of Leonard and his associates (Leonard et al., 1987). Carefully matched groups of English SLIs and language controls show differences in performance on third person singular. Similarly, for the comparable Italian groups, there are significant differences in performance on object clitic pronouns. If the language-matching is reliable, and the groups can be considered to be at the same general stage of language development, the difference in performance signals a specific deficit. Notice though that the difference is relative not absolute. It is not that the SLI group simply do not have the relevant form available at all. This is reminiscent of a very early paper (Morehead & Ingram, 1976). They reported on groups of SLI children at each of the five stages of language development established by Brown (1973) on the basis of MLU. Their conclusion was that the SLI children’s grammatical systems were very similar to language-matched normals at each of the stages of development, but that they use the resources available to them less frequently (see also Ingram & Carr, 1994).

  Representation and processing

  Competence and performance

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