- What is Language Disorder?
Language Disorder impacts a child’s ability to understand and use language.
Language Disorder is a neurodevelopmental disability that impacts a child’s ability to understand and use language. It impacts children and young people’s everyday social interactions and education.
What is Language Disorder? - School Support Services
Every child deserves the chance to succeed at school.
Getting a good start in school provides the foundation for a child’s learning and development for the rest of their lives.
School Support Services
Children with Developmental Language Disorder are as able and healthy as other children. With one exception, they have great difficulty thinking about, understanding and using language. They are often as intelligent as other children their age, but still have difficulties with language. There may be no outward signs of disability and no obvious physical indicators of a problem. For this reason, Developmental Language Disorder is also known as a ‘hidden disability’ affecting 1 in 14 children.
Although DLD primarily affects language, children and young people with the condition may also have social and emotional difficulties. Research tells us that individuals without a diagnosis and appropriate support, may experience poor mental health and employment outcomes.
Developmental Language Disorder is a significant and lifelong disability. Children with DLD won’t grow out of it. However, with access to early and quality intervention, children and young people with DLD can succeed: academically, socially and professionally, and can live rich and fulfilling lives.
Video – What is DLD?
Podcast – Exploring DLD
Additional Resources
- RADLD – Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder
- DLD and ME
- Engage with Developmental Language Disorder
- Speech and Language UK
Articles and Research
- The prevalence of and potential risk factors for Developmental Language Disorder at 10 years in the Raine Study
- Girls slip through the cracks due to ‘referral bias’: Australian-first study.
- Have you heard of developmental language disorder? An online survey — Macquarie University
- Developmental language disorder – a comprehensive study of more than 46,000 individuals – ScienceDirect
- Functional near-infrared spectroscopy measures of neural activity in children with and without developmental language disorder during a working memory task
- Dyslexia and Developmental Language Disorder: comorbid disorders with distinct effects on reading comprehension – Snowling – 2020 – Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry – Wiley Online Library
- Developmental Language Disorder: The Childhood Condition We Need to Start Talking About · Frontiers for Young Minds (frontiersin.org)
- Classroom adjustments: Developmental Language Disorder – Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (nccd.edu.au)
- CATALISE: A Multinational and Multidisciplinary Delphi Consensus Study. Identifying Language Impairments in Children | PLOS ONE
- Phase 2 of CATALISE: a multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study of problems with language development: Terminology – Bishop – 2017 – Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry – Wiley Online Library
- Language Outcomes at 7 Years: Early Predictors and Co-Occurring Difficulties | Pediatrics | American Academy of Pediatrics (aap.org)
- More or less likely to offend? Young adults with a history of identified developmental language disorders – PMC (nih.gov)
- How We Fail Children With Developmental Language Disorder | Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (asha.org)
- Understanding Dyslexia in the Context of Developmental Language Disorders | Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (asha.org)
- The prevalence of and potential risk factors for Developmental Language Disorder at 10 years in the Raine Study – Wiley Online Library
- Developmental Language Disorder and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
Our Support Networks
Therapy support for children and young people with Language Disorder and other developmental and learning needs.
A full educational experience for children and young people with Language Disorder – from Prep to Year 12.
Enhancing outcomes for students with Language Disorder through consultation, capacity building through intensive support and professional learning for school staff.
Head office
Level 3, 88 Jephson Street,
Toowong, QLD, 4066, Brisbane
