Specific language impairment (SLI) is a communication disorder that interferes with the development of language skills in children who have no hearing loss or intellectual disabilities. SLI can affect a child’s speaking, listening, reading, and writing. SLI is also called developmental language disorder, language delay, or developmental dysphasia. It is one of the most common developmental disorders, affecting approximately 7 to 8 percent of children in kindergarten. The impact of SLI usually persists into adulthood.

 Causes SLI

The cause of SLI is unknown, but recent discoveries suggest that it has a strong genetic link. Children with SLI are more likely than those without SLI to have parents and siblings who have also had difficulties and delays in speaking. In fact, 50 to 70 percent of children with SLI have at least one family member with the disorder.

Learning more than one language at a time does not cause SLI. The disorder can, however, affect both multilingual children and children who speak only one language.

 Symptoms of SLI

A child with SLI often has a history of being a late talker (reaching spoken language milestones later than peers).

Preschool-aged children with SLI may:

• Be late to put words together into sentences.
• Struggle to learn new words and make conversation.
• Have difficulty following directions, not because they are stubborn, but because they do not fully understand the words spoken to them.
• Make frequent grammatical errors when speaking.

Although some late talkers eventually catch up with peers, children with SLI have persistent language difficulties. Symptoms common in older children and adults with SLI include:

• Limited use of complex sentences.
• Difficulty finding the right words.
• Difficulty understanding figurative language.
• Reading problems.
• Disorganized storytelling and writing.
• Frequent grammatical and spelling errors.

Criteria for diagnosing SLI

• Nonverbal/performance IQ above 85
• Low verbal IQ
• Expression significantly poorer than Receptive Language ( understanding) skills
• Deficits in a variety of cognitive tasks including manipulating mental images, haptic/touch recognition, knowing that quantity remains the same across changes unless quantity is subtracted
• Poor visuo spatial short term memory and working memory

Around 10-15%  of children may be “late bloomers” who do not achieve 50 single words and two-worded utterances by 24 months of age. Most of the late bloomers outgrow their delay, but around 20-50% of them have language problems that persist into pre school and school age. These children form the core of those with SLI.

Around 7.4 % of kindergarten children may have SLI.  Even though this condition gets better with age, two thirds of all children grow up to have language difficulties in adolescence. E.g – At age 15, children with SLI have slower response time in language tasks than typical aged peers.

Children with SLI are perceived more negatively by teachers and peers. Young children manifest behavioural problems, which decrease with age. In elementary school, these kids show poor cooperative learning skills, contribute little, have lesser negotiating strategies than their language abilities. By middle school they develop poor self-esteem, scholastic incompetence and poor behaviour conduct.

Since children with SLI have poor working memory, they get easily overwhelmed by new information. They show lack of attention, and slow rates of vocabulary learning.

 Treatments for SLI

Treatment services for SLI are typically provided or overseen by a licensed speech-language pathologist. Treatment may be provided in homes, schools, university programs for speech-language pathology, private clinics, or outpatient hospital settings.

Identifying and treating children with SLI early in life is ideal, but people can respond well to treatment regardless of when it begins. Treatment depends on the age and needs of the person. Starting treatment early can help young children to:

• Acquire missing elements of grammar.
• Expand their understanding and use of words.
• Develop social communication skills.

For school-age children, treatment may focus on understanding instruction in the classroom, including helping with issues such as:

• Following directions.
• Understanding the meaning of the words that teachers use.
• Organizing information.
• Improving speaking, reading, and writing skills.