Search

New media are commonplace in children's lives. Speech and language therapists (SLTs), educational psychologists and teachers are sometimes called upon by caregivers to provide advice on whether or how children and young people with language impairments should be encouraged to use these media. This article aims to illuminate some of the key issues and to review the implications of different types of advice that practitioners might provide. Four broad strategies are considered: Prohibition, Laissez-faire, Restriction, and Constructive use. Possible consequences of each strategy are outlined and it is proposed that Constructive use should be the strategy of choice. Reasons in favour of a constructive orientation include the benefits of joint engagement, enjoyment, cognitive and perceptual challenges and social motivation; effective uses can support educational attainment in young people with language impairments. Some areas where children and young people with language impairments need support with new media are noted. Decisions that we make about whether to constrain or support uses of new media have direct implications for the quality of young people's lives and futures. SLTs, educational psychologists and teachers have important roles to play in the development of better-informed policies and strategies concerning language impaired youngsters and digital media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the background and rationale of an internet campaign to raise awareness of language learning impairments (RALLI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a review of research into the social and emotional functioning of adolescents with specific language impairment (SLI). In particular, we focus on peer relations, peer friendships, bullying, emotional difficulties and psychiatric difficulties. As a group, adolescents with SLI tend to be more vulnerable to problems in these domains than are typical adolescents. However, there is considerable heterogeneity among those with SLI, and some individuals experience positive outcomes. We stress the need to understand adolescence and SLI in a developmental context. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the research findings for service provision to support the needs of young people with language impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opinions of adolescents about their earlier specialist educational provision in the UK, i.e. language units, have received little attention in the literature. This study examines the views of young people and their parents on language units and also evaluates opinions concerning the young people's language difficulties. One hundred and thirty-nine adolescents with specific language impairment (SLI) aged approximately 16 years, who had all attended a language unit at 7 years of age, were interviewed along with their parents and teachers. A broadly positive experience of language unit attendance was reported by young people and their parents. However, a fifth of adolescents and nearly a third of parents thought there had been too little educational support during schooling. In addition, a fifth of the adolescents felt there were lots of ways in which they could not do things currently due to language difficulties. It was also found that nearly a third of the young people had tried to hide their language difficulties in the past year. Within the context of an overall positive picture of results, young people with SLI may require support during adolescence with regard to their continued language difficulties, their confidence and self-esteem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a debate about whether the language of children with primary language disorders and normal cognitive levels is qualitatively different from those with language impairments who have low or borderline non-verbal IQ (NVIQ). As children reach adolescence, this distinction may be even harder to ascertain, especially in naturalistic settings. Narrative may provide a useful, ecologically valid way in which to assess the language ability of adolescents with specific language impairment (SLI) who have intact or lowered NVIQ and to determine whether there is any discernable difference in every day language. Nineteen adolescents with a history of SLI completed two narrative tasks: a story telling condition and a conversational condition. Just under half the group ( n = 8) had non-verbal IQs of 85. The remaining 11 had NVIQs in the normal range or above. Four areas of narrative (productivity, syntax, cohesion and performance) were assessed. There were no differences between the groups on standardized tests of language. However, the group with low NVIQ were poorer on most aspects of narrative, suggesting that cognitive level is important, even when language is the primary disorder. The groups showed similar patterns of differences between story telling and conversational narrative. It was concluded that adolescents with a history of SLI and poor cognitive levels have poorer narrative skills than those with normal range NVIQ even though these may not be detected by standardized assessment. Their difficulties present as qualitatively similar to those with normal range NVIQ and narratives appear impoverished rather than inaccurate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literacy abilities of 11-year old children with specific language impairment (SLI) were investigated through comparing subgroups with current expressive-only language impairment (E-SLI, n = 30), current combined expressive and receptive language impairment (ER-SLI, n = 32) and a history of now-resolved language impairment (Resolved-SLI, n = 28). The ER-SLI subgroup performed less well than the E-SLI subgroup on measures of single word reading and reading comprehension and in turn the E-SLI subgroup performed less well than the Resolved-SLI subgroup. Further analysis of individual variation within subgroups revealed that all three subgroups had a considerable proportion of individuals with literacy difficulties. In addition, direct comparisons of E-SLI versus ER-SLI subgroups revealed the ER-SLI subgroup to have a significantly larger proportion of children with severe literacy difficulties than the E-SLI subgroup. In contrast, the Resolved-SLI subgroup had virtually no children with severe literacy difficulties. The implications of these findings for practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explores the characteristics and concerns of a group of mothers of young people with a history of specific language impairment (SLI). Altogether, 52 young people and their mothers participated. Psychometric tests were used to assess mothers' cognitive and literacy performance and socio-economic status was also recorded. Maternal concerns about their young people were taken from the Autism Diagnostic Interview. Young people were also assessed for language, literacy and cognitive performance. Number and type of concerns as well as the ways in which child and mother characteristics relate to maternal concern were examined. The findings revealed that mothers of those with SLI were no more likely to have language difficulties than those in the general population. The majority of mothers reported either one concern (36.5%), or two concerns (36.5%) for their adolescents. A smaller group reported more concerns (11.5%) and eight mothers reported no concerns for their adolescents (15%). The most common reported primary maternal concern was the future, followed by social and educational concerns. Interestingly, few mothers reported speech and language concerns. Furthermore, maternal concerns for their adolescents were not related to the young people's own characteristics. Whilst most parent characteristics were also not associated with their concerns, type of concern reported appeared to be related to mothers' own skills: higher overall IQ and literacy scores were found for parents reporting concerns about their adolescent's social skill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates vocabulary development over one year for three young children with specific language impairment (SLI). Rate of vocabulary development and use of nouns and verbs relative to total vocabulary is compared with a larger sample of younger, typically developing children. Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) data were collected and results provided a typically developing trajectory against which the children with SLI could be compared. The two groups show similar growth curves at these early stages. Findings are discussed with reference to previous work on vocabulary development and methodological differences between parental report and naturalistic data collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to investigate the linguistic environment provided by teachers for children with severe learning difficulties. Teachers' responses to three normal ability pupils and five children with severe learning difficulties were examined in segregated and integrated nursery settings. Results revealed similarities in the distribution of teachers' responses between the normal ability pupils and the severe learning difficulty pupils in integrated settings. Children with severe learning difficulties were responded to differently in segregated settings. The implications of these results for the conversational development of children with severe learning difficulties are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The frequency, structure and sophistication of clarification requests with in a mother—language-impaired child dyad were examined. The mother— child dyad was videotaped in free-play situations before and after the onset of therapy. The data indicated that the clarification request was a consistent feature of both mother and child's interactive style. Both members of the dyad equally shared the floor for initiating clarification requests, both were usually successful in obtaining clarification, and both used a limited number of the clarification request categories. A developmental trend was observed. Remedial implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite the frequent use of indirect requests in the assessment and intervention of language disorders, the study of language-impaired children's comprehension of these forms is only just emerging. The present investigation aims to further our knowledge in this area by examining language-impaired children's understanding of indirect requests in two situations: (a) one situation in which the experimenter gives the instructions to the child in a structured way, presenting each instruction once only, and (b) another situation where the mother gives the instructions to the child in an unrestricted, more natural way. The results suggest that language- impaired children, unlike normal language learners of the same language stage, behave significantly differently in the two situations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article considers the longer term outlook for children with language learning difficulties. Based on the article, the perception on language impairment is that, it is a relatively pure disorder, mainly affecting childhood. Individuals with language impairment have language ability deficiency while everything else appears to be normal. The author reveals that there are differences in the main manifestation of language impairment during the pre-school years and at school entry, and in adolescence (secondary school age).