CDI445 Final8

What does DLD stand for?

Developmental Language Disorder.

Is DLD a common reason children are referred for therapy?

Yes. DLD is one of the most common reasons children are referred for therapy.

How is DLD diagnosed?

DLD is diagnosed based on exclusion criteria, meaning other possible causes of language impairment must be ruled out first.

What must be ruled out before diagnosing DLD?

Other causes such as hearing loss, intellectual disability, neurological disorder, ASD, Down syndrome, or another known diagnosis.

What type of language difficulty must a child have for DLD?

The child must have difficulty with receptive and/or expressive language that is likely to persist.

What nonverbal IQ score is mentioned as part of DLD criteria?

A nonverbal IQ of 70 or higher, indicating no intellectual disability.

What must be true about hearing for a DLD diagnosis?

The child must have normal hearing.

Can DLD co-occur with other difficulties?

Yes. DLD can co-occur with difficulties in attention, motor control, speech, executive function, or auditory processing.

What does it mean that DLD is 'unexplained'?

It means the language disorder is not caused by another diagnosis but may still persist beyond preschool and affect school or job success.

Why can DLD terminology be confusing?

Practitioners may use different terms such as specific language impairment, late language emergence, language disorder, or social/pragmatic disorder.

According to the DSM-5, what qualifies a child for a language disorder?

Persistent difficulty with expressive and/or receptive language that is substantially below age expectations.

What is social pragmatic communication disorder?

A disorder for children who have difficulty with the social aspects of language but do not meet criteria for ASD.

What does SLI stand for?

Specific Language Impairment.

How has the term SLI been used historically?

It has historically been used in research to describe the language skills of children with DLD.

What is a key difference between SLI and DLD?

SLI includes specific IQ requirements, while DLD does not have the same IQ specificity.

What does LLE stand for?

Late Language Emergence.

Why is the term late language emergence sometimes used instead of DLD?

Because not all children with early language delays continue to have language impairment as they get older.

What percentage of children with late language emergence may go on to have long-term language impairments?

About 25–50%.

What is the prevalence of DLD?

About 7.5%.

Is there a clear gender relationship in DLD?

Research is mixed. Some studies find males are more likely to have DLD, while others find no correlation.

What male-to-female ratio has been reported in some DLD research?

About 1.22:1, with males more commonly identified.

What genetic factor has research identified related to DLD?

A gene locus linked to speech and language impairments.

Does environment play a role in language development?

Yes. A child’s environment also plays a role in language development.

What is the primary difficulty for children with DLD?

Morphosyntax.

What is morphosyntax?

Morphosyntax refers to grammar involving both word forms and sentence structure.

What verb forms may be difficult for children with DLD?

Third-person singular -s, past tense -ed, copula verbs, and auxiliary verbs.

What are copula verbs?

Linking verbs such as is and are.

What are auxiliary verbs?

Helping verbs that support the main verb, such as is, are, was, do, or have.

What articles may be difficult for children with DLD?

The and a.

What possessive form may be difficult for children with DLD?

Possessive ’s, such as “Mom’s coat.”

What pronoun difficulty may children with DLD have?

They may have difficulty using pronouns correctly.

What is the 'trickle down effect' in DLD?

A primary deficit in morphosyntax can affect other areas of language and academic ability.

Why are multicultural considerations important when diagnosing DLD?

Some language differences may be mistaken for language errors if the SLP does not understand the child’s dialect or language background.

Which dialect is mentioned as being at risk for DLD misdiagnosis?

African American English, or AAE.

Why might children who speak African American English be misdiagnosed with DLD?

Some AAE language patterns may be viewed as errors if the diagnosing SLP does not understand AAE.

What is an example of an AAE feature mentioned in the PowerPoint?

Plurality, such as 'There are two book.'

How can DLD affect vocabulary development?

Children with DLD may have smaller vocabularies and difficulty learning new words.

How can DLD affect word combinations?

Children with DLD may produce word combinations later than their peers.

What kind of verbs might children with DLD rely on?

High-frequency verbs such as want, get, and like.

How can DLD affect verb learning?

Children with DLD may use a smaller variety of verbs.

How can DLD affect pragmatic development in younger children?

Younger children with DLD may be less likely to initiate topics.

How can DLD affect pragmatic development in older children?

Older children with DLD may have difficulty entering peer group conversations and making conversational repairs.

What are conversational repairs?

Attempts to fix communication breakdowns, such as clarifying or rewording a message.

Are phonological impairments common in children with DLD?

Yes. Children with DLD more frequently have phonological impairments.

What percentage of children with DLD may have phonological deficits?

Up to 40%.

What information-processing issue is associated with DLD?

Children with DLD may have capacity limitations in cognitive processing resources.

How can processing limitations affect children with DLD?

They may be slower at naming pictures or recognizing words.

What is a nonword repetition task?

A task where a child repeats made-up or nonsense words.

Why are nonword repetition tasks used with DLD?

They can show difficulty with language processing and phonological memory.

What attention-related disorder can co-occur with DLD?

ADHD.

What percentage of children with DLD also meet criteria for ADHD?

About 22%.

What percentage of children with DLD experience reading problems?

About 80%.

How are DLD and dyslexia related?

DLD and dyslexia are linked because both can involve language and phonological processing difficulties.

What phonological awareness skills may be difficult for children with DLD?

Detecting, segmenting, and blending word sounds.

How can phonological awareness difficulties affect reading?

They can make decoding words more difficult.

How can DLD affect writing?

Children with DLD may make frequent grammatical errors and have difficulty writing complex sentences.

What written grammar issue is common in children with DLD?

Errors in written verbal morphology.

What type of sentences may be difficult for children with DLD to write?

Complex sentences.

What grade is Logan in?

Logan is in 2nd grade.

What diagnosis does Logan have?

Developmental Language Disorder.

What area of language is difficult for Logan?

Morphosyntax, especially complex sentences with causal conjunctions.

What are examples of causal conjunctions Logan struggles with?

Because and if.

What science topic is Logan’s class studying?

States of matter: liquid, solid, and gas.

What science vocabulary might be difficult for Logan?

Condense, evaporate, hypothesize, and investigate.

What language skills are needed for science inquiry?

Vocabulary, sentence comprehension, explaining cause and effect, asking questions, making predictions, and giving rationales.

How might Logan’s morphosyntax deficits affect semantic development?

Difficulty understanding complex sentence structures may make it harder for him to learn new vocabulary and concepts.

How might Logan’s morphosyntax deficits affect pragmatic development?

He may struggle to explain ideas, follow group rules, interact with peers, and participate in class discussions.

How could a clinician support Logan’s academic skills?

By teaching science vocabulary, supporting complex sentence use, modeling cause-and-effect language, and helping him practice explaining predictions.

How old is Zachary?

Zachary is 10 years old.

What grade is Zachary in?

Fifth grade.

How is Zachary described socially?

He is social and well-liked by his peers.

What are Zachary’s interests?

Rap music and video games.

What verbal instruction difficulty does Zachary have?

He does not easily follow coaches’ verbal instructions.

How does Zachary respond when conversations change from his favorite topics?

He loses interest when the conversation changes to unfamiliar or less preferred topics.

What reading difficulty does Zachary have?

He is a slow reader and does not easily comprehend what he reads.

When did Zachary begin decoding grade-level text?

In third grade.

How is Zachary’s writing described?

His writing consists of simple sentences and is produced slowly.

How does Zachary participate in classroom discussions?

He generally does not participate.

What might be an underlying cause of Zachary avoiding unfamiliar topics?

He may have language weaknesses that make unfamiliar topics harder to understand, discuss, and respond to.

What classroom-based assessments might help gather information about Zachary?

Language samples, reading comprehension tasks, writing samples, classroom observations, curriculum-based assessments, and teacher/parent interviews.

What information could be provided to Zachary’s parents?

Information about how language difficulties can affect reading, writing, verbal instruction following, conversation, and classroom participation.

What educational or communication goals might help Zachary?

Goals for reading comprehension, complex sentence production, written language, following verbal directions, topic maintenance, and participating in classroom discussions.

What is the main language weakness in DLD?

Morphosyntax.

Which language areas can be affected by the trickle down effect?

Semantics, pragmatics, phonology, reading, writing, and academics.

What does DLD often affect in school?

Academic performance, reading, writing, vocabulary learning, classroom discussion, and social communication.

Why is DLD considered persistent?

Because language difficulties are likely to continue beyond preschool and may affect school and job success.

What is one reason DLD can be missed in older students?

Older students may be well behaved or socially liked but still struggle with reading, writing, comprehension, and classroom participation.

Why should SLPs be careful when diagnosing children from different dialect backgrounds?

Dialect differences should not be mistaken for language disorders.

What is one academic area strongly linked to DLD?

Reading.

What is another academic area strongly linked to DLD?

Writing.

Why is phonological awareness important for children with DLD?

It supports decoding, spelling, and reading development.