It has come back around to that time of year again and I'm so excited to write a post about DLD Awareness Day!
I have been involved in DLD awareness day in previous roles for the last few years and think it is an area which requires lots of promotion and support as it is such a common and unknown condition. Have a read below!
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) - What is it?
DLD affects on average 2 children in every classroom. Shocking no? It is less well known than Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but more prominent. RADLD (Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder) have been working hard to show everyone what DLD is and how you can support children who have DLD.
DLD is a severe speech and language difficulty which often impacts multiple areas of a child's speech and language development. These difficulties cannot be explained by any other diagnosis or need and often has a significant impact on a child's day to day functioning.
The RADLD has come up with the following 5 key facts:
DLD is a hidden disability. People with DLD make more errors or use simpler sentences or even have trouble organizing a conversation. These problems are not always obvious to the non-specialist.
DLD emerges in early childhood but persists into adulthood.
DLD affects people around the world, no matter the language spoken.
DLD is common. In one study, 1 in 14 children demonstrated symptoms of DLD.
DLD matters. It can affect social and emotional well-being as well as success at school and work.
The following you tube video by RADLD explains what DLD is:
What is impacted by DLD?
The image below by RADLD shows all the areas which can be impacted by DLD.
As you can see lots of different areas can be impacted. Language is often thr main area of concern. However there are different areas of language which need to be assessed and interpreted to look at and make a diagnosis of DLD.
In terms of impacts on a child's life the following areas are often impacted:
Literacy Development: Children with DLD often struggle with developing their reading and writing as part of their DLD profile. As many of you know difficulties with language skills can impact on many other areas of literacy development.
Social Development: Children who have language difficulties often struggle with developing social relationships because of their language difficulties.
Employment: If left unsupported then children with DLD are reported to struggle to gain highly skilled full time employment.
How is DLD diagnosed?
You will require a specialist qualified speech and language therapist to diagnosed DLD.
An assessment is made up of multiple elements and needs to be completed by a Speech and Language Therapist with experience working with and diagnosing children with DLD. Elements for assessment may include:
Information gathering from multiple sources: parents, observations in the classroom, discussions with school staff and teachers
Standardised assessments to look at a child's understanding of language and spoken language.
In depth analysis into the different areas of a child's spoken language language including its content form and use (see picture above)
Investigation into a child's verbal learning and memory as well as their static performance in tests or assessments.
Finally when looking at DLD your therapist will need to determine if there is any associated problems which could be impacting on a child's language development as a pure diagnosis of DLD cannot be given if there are other difficulties. Examples of associated conditions are genetic syndromes, ASD, acquired brain injury, hearing loss etc.
Does intervention help with children who have DLD?
The simple answer us yes!
A speech therapist can both diagnosed DLD and create a programme or provide direct support. Support always needs to take place in collaboration with a family and school setting in order for it to be effective and consistency is absolutely key.
When working with children who have DLD all adults supporting that child need to work towards the same goals/strategies and support children/students with the same approach otherwise it is likely that intervention will be ineffective.
How can we help in the classroom?
These great images give you some basic strategies to start thinking about how to support children with DLD classroom on a day to day basis. This should be outside of any specific support outlined by your speech and language therapist:
I think my child may have DLD what do I do now?
The simple answer is speak to your school Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo), raise any concerns you have and request a referral to a Speech and Language Therapist. Ask your child's teacher to give you evidence as to where your child is struggling and use that information in the referral.
If you would like support from an independent speech and language therapist go to https://asltip.com/find-a-speech-therapist/ to find a local therapist who can support you (in the 'conditions treated' box there is a specific tick box for DLD.
How can you get involved with DLD Awareness Day?
There is so much happening on Friday to support DLD Awareness Day - head over the the RADLD Website where you can find information about their social media campaigns, the light up events and much much more. There are also lots of free resources you can download for your own personal use and for use in schools to help with support and identification.
As always if you are in Devon and would like support with your child's speech and language difficulties please do not hesitate to contact me for a free 20 minutes telephone consultation to discuss your child's needs.
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