Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) Warning Signs

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and dyslexia often overlap. Children with DLD may struggle with understanding or using language, which can make learning to read and spell more challenging.

Addressing both of these areas is crucial.

  • Starting to talk later than their siblings or peers

  • Difficulties learning new words

  • Struggling to put words into sentences

  • Using the wrong words or leaving words out when speaking

  • Using short, simple sentences

  • Difficulties telling a story in order and leaving out details

  • Difficulties answering questions

  • Struggling to be understood by people outside their family

  • Struggling to explain their thoughts and feelings

  • Finding it hard to follow instructions

  • Needing lots of repetitions to follow instructions

  • Watching their peers to find out what to do rather than following instructions

  • Difficulties learning and remembering new information

  • Appearing to not be listening or distracted

  • Becoming frustrated and using behaviors that can be challenging

  • Difficulties learning to read and write

  • Avoiding conversations and social situations

  • Struggling to join activities and discussions

What is a Developmental Language Disorder?

(from DLDandme.org)

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) refers to difficulties with spoken language that can’t be explained by other conditions. Over time, different fields—like psychology, linguistics, and education—have used various terms for the same disorder. This mix of terminology can be confusing for parents and educators and makes it harder to raise awareness and build collaboration around DLD.

In light of this issue, it is helpful to know what other terms are being used to refer to DLD. The terms have been broken down into three categories: research terms, clinical terms (including terms used for insurance purposes), and educational policy terms.

Educational Terminology

In U.S. educational policy, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has its own names and categories of disabilities. There are three IDEA terms that a child with DLD could be given:

  • Developmental Delay: This includes children with delays in language acquisition. This term is typically used in educational settings that serve children from birth to eight years old.

  • Speech or Language Impairment: This includes children with a communication disorder, including language impairment, that affects their educational performance. This term can also be abbreviated as SLI or S/LI, which is not to be confused with Specific Language Impairment.

  • Specific Learning Disability: Not to be confused with the DSM-5 label “Specific Learning Disorder,” this educational term refers to children with trouble understanding or using spoken or written language, which affects their reading, writing, spelling, math, or other areas.

Educational labels are particularly important because they are the basis for determining whether your child qualifies for intervention services and accommodations in school. Of note, educational labels can differ by country.

Clinical Terminology

In clinical practice, the different labels mainly come from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5). Under the communication disorders subsection of “neurodevelopmental disorders,” there are two terms that a child with DLD could be given:

  • Language Disorder: This refers to children who have difficulties with vocabulary, sentence structure, and/or discourse.

  • Specific Learning Disorder: This refers to children who have difficulties with reading, writing, or math, whether they have deficits in spoken language or not. However, since spoken language is critical for learning to read and write, children with DLD could be labeled as having a specific learning disorder.

Insurance

In the U.S., some insurance companies will cover some of the costs of diagnosing and treating DLD; however, these companies will use different terms from any of those listed above. To bill insurance, your clinician will need to list an ICD-10 code. The codes most likely to encompass DLD are F80.1 Expressive language disorder or F80.2 Expressive and receptive language disorder.

All of these terms could potentially be used to describe a child with DLD. Because of this, there has been a worldwide push to decide on a common term. Fueled by the CATALISE Consortium (Bishop et al., 2016), “developmental language disorder” is becoming more and more prominent as the preferred term. As research in DLD continues to move forward, having a common term will help bring together the many researchers, clinicians, and educational policymakers who want to support children with DLD.

All above information was taken from DLDandme.org- an organization created to enhance understanding of developmental language disorder (DLD) and to offer support and resources for people impacted by DLD.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Bishop, D. V., Snowling, M. J., Thompson, P. A., & Greenhalgh, T. (2016). CATALISE: A multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study. Identifying language impairments in children. PLOS One, 11(7). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0158753.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 et seq. (2004).

Leonard, L. B. (1998). Children with specific language impairment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Reilly, S., Bishop, D. V. M., & Tomblin, B. (2014). Terminological debate over language impairment in children: Forward movement and sticking points. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 49(4), 452-462.

Sun, L., & Wallach, G. P. (2014). Language disorders are learning disabilities: Challenges on the divergent and diverse paths to language learning disability. Topics in Language Disorders, 34(1), 25-38.