Page 32 - SEN106 SEN Magazine May-June 2020

Becky Clark looks at how we can support children with a range of language difficulties Developmental language disorder (DLD) D ifficulties with language affect children’s learning, understanding and ability to express themselves. A number of different diagnostic labels have been used to describe these issues and this has contributed to limited awareness and understanding amongst professionals and the general public. In order to raise the profile of the condition, in 2012 I got together with a group of professors (Dorothy Bishop, Gina Conti-Ramsden, Courtenay Norbury and Maggie Snowling) in the UK and Natalie Orringe, a public relations consultant, to create a series of accessible films for professionals and parents to help build understanding of these common, yet often hidden, conditions. The films gained a great deal of interest in the UK and globally, being used in teacher training sessions and shared online through social media. However, we were still challenged by the continued issue of terminology; it’s hard to achieve awareness effectively if we don’t have agreement on what we are raising awareness of! We also became aware that use of a variety of terms impacted on accessing information and interventions for a child and a common term is needed so parents can find communities for support. A recent consensus process (2016 to 2017) led by Professor Dorothy Bishop of Oxford University, brought together experts in the field to address the terminology issue. A set of criteria was established, the term “developmental language disorder” (DLD) was agreed upon and subsequently, the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists endorsed these recommendations. Once an agreed term was in place, raising awareness gained new impetus and now speech and language therapy departments across the UK are using the agreed criteria and the term DLD is gaining traction in schools. DLD may not be obvious and may be masked by other associated or secondary issues SEN 106 senmagazine.co.uk 32 SLCN