LCS

Abstract. A large cohort of 200 eleven-year-old children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) were assessed on basic reading accuracy and on reading compre- hension as well as language tasks. Reading skills were examined descriptively and in relation to early ...

The ‘borderlands’ of autism are of particular interest to researchers and clinicians as we learn more about pervasive disorders and how to manage them. One group of children who have caused particular controversy are those referred to as having semantic-pragmatic disorder or pragmatic language impairment. The present article examines the profiles of 10 children (selected from a wider project on language impairment) who are definitely considered to have pragmatic impairments by their teachers, their speech and language therapists and the researchers and on the basis of scores from the Children’s Communication Checklist (CCC). These children are compared with each other and with children with more typical specific language impairments (SLIs) in the wider study. The 10 children’s characteristics are also examined in terms of classification and whether some might be better described using existing autistic spectrum disorder terminology. Children with pragmatic language impairment were a...

Purpose This is the 2nd article of a companion set (the 1st article being on language and independence). It presents research examining parental perspectives on aspects of impairment in their offspring involving families rearing children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method The same sample as that of the 1st study participated in this investigation: a total of 238 parents and their offspring (120 offspring with a history of SLI and 118 typically developing [TD] offspring). Parents were interviewed using the Transition Daily Rewards and Worries questionnaire (L. M. Glidden & B. M. Jobe, 2007; J. Menard, S. Schoolcraft, L. M. Glidden, & C. Lazarus, 2002). Measures of the adolescents’ receptive and expressive language, reading, nonverbal IQ, and socioemotional functioning were obtained. Results Parents of adolescents with a history of SLI had more negative expectations in the areas of future/adult life, socialization, and community resources. An exception was family relation...

Children and adolescents with language impairment (LI) are at risk of emotional health difficulties. However, less is known about whether these difficulties continue into adulthood for this group, or about the potential role of environmental resources (e.g., social support) or internal resources (e.g., self-efficacy). This study investigates emotional health in 81 adults with a history of developmental LI (aged 24) compared with 87 age-matched peers (AMPs) using Beck Inventories. Social support and self-efficacy measures were examined as predictors. The results were fourfold: (1) adults with LI had higher levels of emotional health problems; (2) whilst the availability of social support was similar across groups, people with LI received more help from others compared to peers; (3) social support was not significantly related to emotional health in those with LI - in contrast, for AMPs, uptake of support indicated poorer emotional health; (4) self-efficacy was the strongest predictor...