Specific language impairment in children: characteristics and treatment

¶ … Language Impairment Disorder

Specific language impairment (SLI) is a disorder with long-term impacts. it's characterized by difficulty with language that is not caused by known neurological, sensory, intellectual, or emotional deficit. It can affect the development of vocabulary, grammar, and discourse skills, with evidence that certain elements of speech may be especially difficult to acquire (including past tense, third person singular, etc.). Children with SLI may be intelligent and healthy in all regards except in the difficulty they have with language. They may in fact be extraordinarily bright and have high nonverbal IQs (Ervin).

Children with SLI usually learn to talk late. It is not unusual to first encounter a child with SLI at age 3 or 4 years, with limited vocabulary and short expressions. Later on they are likely to be the kinds of kids who are told by well-meaning parents and teachers that they are smart but unmotivated and that they just need to try harder (Ervin).

Demographics

Estimates of true SLI vary according to the age of identification. Some experts argue that as many as 10% of two-year-olds may have specific language impairment, but by age three or four, that percentage drops considerably, presumably because some difficulties resolve themselves. The incidence in the general population is estimated at about one percent. SLI is more common in boys than girls (Davidson, De Villers and Gale).

Characteristics of SLI

Delay in starting to talk is evidenced by the first words not appearing until two years of age or later. Immature or deviant production of speech sounds is apparent, especially in preschool children. Use of simplified grammatical structures, such as omission of past tense endings or the auxiliary "is," exist well beyond the age when this is usually mastered. Restricted vocabulary, in both production and comprehension with weak verbal short-term memory, is evidenced in tasks requiring repetition of words or sentences. Difficulties in understanding complex language are apparent, especially when the speaker talks rapidly (Bishop).

Treatment

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) help children with the strategies and exercises that will help them navigate language. They are also the ambassadors of language who help other educators understand not only what goes wrong, but what goes right. Understanding SLI brings us a long way toward understanding the miraculous phenomenon of human language itself (Ervin).

Prognosis

The prognosis for children with SLI depends very heavily on the type and severity of the language problem experienced. Many language problems can be largely overcome, although some difficulties usually persist. There is no known way to prevent SLI (Davidson, et al.).