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Specific Language Impairment in Families: Evidence for Co-Occurrence With Reading Impairments
Abstract and Figures
Two family aggregation studies report the occurrence and co-occurrence of oral language impairments (LIs) and reading impairments (RIs). Study 1 examined the occurrence (rate) of LI and RI in children with specific language impairment (SLI probands), a matched control group, and all nuclear family members. Study 2 included a larger sample of SLI probands, as well as their nuclear and extended family members. Probands and their family members who met specific criteria were classified as language and/or reading impaired based on current testing. In Study 1, the rates of LI and RI for nuclear family members (excluding probands) were significantly higher than those for control family members. In the SLI families, affected family members were more likely to have both LI and RI than either impairment alone. In Study 2, 68% of the SLI probands also met the diagnostic classification for RI. The language and RI rates for the other family members, excluding probands, were 25% and 23% respectively, with a high degree of co-occurrence of LI and RI (46%) in affected individuals. Significant sex ratio differences were found across generations in the families of SLI probands. There were more male than female offspring in these families, and more males than females were found to have both LIs and RIs. Results demonstrate that when LIs occur within families of SLI probands, these impairments generally co-occur with RIs. Our data are also consistent with prior findings that males show impairments more often than females.
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... Finally, family aggregation studies over the years demonstrated that DLD runs in families and that the risk of language disorder increases if a child is born into a family with affected family members (e.g., Tallal et al., 2001). Specifically, the prevalence of language difficulties in first-degree relatives of individuals with a diagnosis is higher than in the general population and is estimated between 20% and 80% (Carroll & Myers, 2010;Choudhury & Benasich, 2003;Flax et al., 2003Flax et al., , 2009Tallal et al., 2001). ...
... Since DLD and learning disorders (primarily dyslexia) tend to have a high rate of comorbidity (Catts et al., 2005;Flax et al., 2003;Nash et al., 2013) and they very often share deficits related to language processing abilities (Ramus et al., 2013;Torppa et al., 2010;van Weerdenburg et al., 2011), in the present study, familial risk for language disorders is defined as having a firstdegree relative with DLD and/or dyslexia. For this reason, hereafter, we will review the existing literature considering studies on the familial risk for both conditions (DLD and dyslexia). ...
... In our case, we chose to include children with a first-degree relative with DLD and/or dyslexia. This choice was done firstly based on the high rates of comorbidity between DLD and dyslexia (Catts et al., 2005;Flax et al., 2003;Nash et al., 2013) and the evidence of partly shared underlying genetic and neurophysiological mechanisms (Ramus et al., 2013;Torppa et al., 2010;van Weerdenburg et al., 2011). Moreover, in our sample, making clear distinctions between FH of DLD and dyslexia was not always possible. ...
Purpose
Prediction of developmental language disorder in children under 3 years of age is challenging. Among early risk factors, research has focused on having a positive familial history (FH+) for language or literacy problems and on late language emergence, that is, late-talker (LT) status. The interaction between these two risk factors and their cumulative effect is still debated. Here, we (a) investigate the effect of FH+ on 24-month language development, (b) test for cumulative effects of FH+ status and early language delay on 36-month language outcomes, and (c) disentangle the direct and indirect effects of familial history (FH) on the language outcome.
Method
One hundred eighty-five Italian children were followed up longitudinally between 24 and 36 months of age (64 FH+ and 121 FH−) through parental questionnaires and direct child assessment.
Results
At the age of 24 months, the FH+ group showed worse expressive vocabulary and higher prevalence of LT. At the age of 36 months, main effects of LT and FH were identified on lexical and phonological performances, respectively. Interestingly, significant interaction effects were identified on expressive vocabulary and phonological processing. Path analysis highlights that FH had a direct effect on later measures of phonology, whereas its effect on 36-month lexical abilities was indirect, via measures of expressive vocabulary at 24 months.
Conclusions
The study suggests specific predictive roles of FH and LT status on language development. Interestingly, FH+ seems to represent an additive risk for LT children. The use of cumulative risk measures is confirmed as a powerful approach to identify those children with the highest probability of developing persistent language difficulties.
Supplemental Material
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.26790580
... Children are diagnosed with SLI, if, despite their normal cognitive functioning and adequate environmental exposure and sensory profile, presents difficulties to acquire linguistic skills compared to their peers. SLI is reported to be a relatively common developmental condition, estimated in approximately 7% of kindergarten children (Tomblin, Records, Buckwalter, Zhang, Smith et al. 1997) and is more prevalent in male than female children (e.g., Choudhury & Benasich, 2003;Flax, Realpe-Bonilla, Hirsch, Brzustowicz, Bartlett, et al. 2003). Furthermore, individuals with SLI are reported to experience difficulties with their learning across all scholastic domains, including mathematics (Arvedson, 2002;Donlan & Ghourlay, 1999;Fazio, 1996) and literacy (Bishop & Adams, 1990;Catts, Fey, Tomblin, & zhang, 2002;Flax et al., 2003). ...
... SLI is reported to be a relatively common developmental condition, estimated in approximately 7% of kindergarten children (Tomblin, Records, Buckwalter, Zhang, Smith et al. 1997) and is more prevalent in male than female children (e.g., Choudhury & Benasich, 2003;Flax, Realpe-Bonilla, Hirsch, Brzustowicz, Bartlett, et al. 2003). Furthermore, individuals with SLI are reported to experience difficulties with their learning across all scholastic domains, including mathematics (Arvedson, 2002;Donlan & Ghourlay, 1999;Fazio, 1996) and literacy (Bishop & Adams, 1990;Catts, Fey, Tomblin, & zhang, 2002;Flax et al., 2003). ...
PURPOSE: The main purpose of this research was to investigate the functioning of working memory of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). METHOD: Two groups of children were selected for the purpose; the specific language impaired (SLI) and their performance was compared with the typically developing children. The SLI group consisted of 15 children (10 male and 5 female) with an age range of 75-154 months. The Typically developing children consisted of 23 children (12 male and 11 female) with an age range of 48-190.Children were assessed on the intelligence test followed by a computerised memory assessment. The hypotheses were generated based on previous researches in this field, which suggest that children with SLI would demonstrate impairments in memory functioning compared to typically developing children. Data was analysed using MANCOVA, t-test, and correlation by using SPSS. RESULTS: The results indicate that the SLI group showed impairment on the verbal memory as there was no difference observed between the TD and SLI group on the visual-spatial memory components. CONCLUSIONS: The SLI group showed their weaknesses on tasks measuring phonological memory; whereas they performed equally well on tasks tapping into visual-spatial sketchpad. These findings may help in the application of intervention strategies for children with SLI.
... In a meta-analysis conducted by Rudolph (2017), clinically significant risk factors associated with child language disorders were low maternal education level, very low 5 min Apgar scores, later birth order, and male gender. There are also additional factors, including 1) Genetics: language disorders commonly aggregate in families (Bishop & Hayiou-Thomas, 2008;Flax et al., 2003;Tallal et al., 2001;Zambrana et al., 2014); 2) Premature birth: many premature children have slower language development than full-term children (Barre et al., 2011;van Noort-van der Spek et al., 2012;Vohr, 2014); and 3) SES: there is evidence that low socio-economic status in the family is a risk for delayed language development (Fernald et al., 2013; see overview by Roy & Chiat, 2013). In addition, maternal age has been found to correlate with child language development, but the results are inconsistent. ...
... The reasons for this finding may be that the expressive vocabularies were very small at this age, and boys had smaller expressive vocabularies than girls. The difference of language development in boys and girls has been revealed in many studies (Fenson et al., 1994;Fenson et al., 2007;Stolt et al., 2008), and boys also have higher risk of developmental language disorder than girls (Flax et al., 2003;Zambrana et al., 2014). The effect of the mother having received special education at school age was not hypothesized, but it is possible that mothers with this type of educational background talk less with their children and give less verbal input than mothers without it. ...
Introduction
Studies have shown that many children with early language difficulties also have delays in social-emotional competencies as well as social-emotional and behavioral problems. It is unclear if these conditions are causally related, if they share a common underlying etiology, or if there are bidirectional effects. Studies investigating these associations have mostly involved children who are already using words to communicate, but it is important to know whether delays in preverbal communication and language development have any effects on these associations. The aim of the present study was to examine associations between preverbal communication and early verbal skills in infancy and subsequent social-emotional competencies and ensuing social-emotional and behavioral problems in early toddlerhood. The role of background factors known to influence early language development was also examined.
Methods
The sample consisted of 395 children (51.6% boys) from the Finnish Steps Study cohort. Language was assessed at age 13 months (+ 1 month) with the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory for Infants (CDI-I), and the social-emotional domain was assessed at age < 17 months with the Brief Infant–Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA).
Results
Infants with lower preverbal gestural communication and receptive language skills had a higher risk of delays in social-emotional competencies in toddlerhood than children with better communication skills, but not of elevated social-emotional and behavioral problems.
Conclusions
The results indicate that lower early communication skills can predict delays in the development of social-emotional competencies, which has been found to be a risk factor for later development of social-emotional and behavioral problems. It is important to monitor early communication skills to provide guidance to parents in supporting early pragmatic communication and language development in infancy, if needed.
... Being male is a risk factor for SLDs (e.g., for specific language impairment, speech sound disorders, stuttering, voice disorders) in the general population (e.g., Dodd, 1995;Keating et al., 2001;Flax et al., 2003;McKinnon et al., 2007;Harrison and McLeod, 2010;Eadie et al., 2015; American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [ASHA], 2020; Chilosi et al., 2021;Choo et al., 2022). Nonetheless, findings from the present study suggest that although being male is associated with an increased risk for SLDs, sex is not associated with the severity of a child's SLD symptoms (rated by parents as either "mild" or "moderate/severe"). ...
Research points to negative associations between educational success, socioemotional functioning, and the severity of symptoms in some speech-language disorders (SLDs). Nonetheless, the majority of studies examining SLDs in children have focused on monolinguals. More research is needed to determine whether the scant findings among multilinguals are robust. The present study used parent report data from the U.S. National Survey of Children’s Health (2018 to 2020) to gain a better understanding of the impacts of SLD severity on indicators of academic success and socioemotional functioning among multilingual (n = 255) and English monolingual (n = 5,952) children with SLDs. Tests of between-group differences indicated that multilingual children evidenced more severe SLDs, had lower school engagement, and had lower reports of flourishing than English monolingual children with SLDs. Further, a greater proportion of multilingual children with SLDs missed more school days than English monolinguals. However, multilinguals were less likely to bully others or have been bullied than monolinguals. While the previous between-group differences were statistically significant, they were small (vs ≤ 0.08). Increased SLD severity predicted an increased number of repeated school grades, increased absenteeism, and decreased school engagement, when age and socioeconomic status were controlled. Increased SLD severity also predicted greater difficulty making and keeping friends and decreased flourishing. The effect of SLD severity on being bullied was statistically significant for the monolinguals but not multilinguals. There was a statistically significant interaction for SLD severity and sex for school engagement and difficulty making and keeping friends for monolinguals but not multilinguals. The interactions indicated that school engagement decreased more for females than for males while difficulties making and keeping friends increased more for males than females as one’s SLD severity increased. While some findings were specific to monolinguals, tests of measurement invariance indicated that the same general pattern of relations among the variables were evident across the groups of multilinguals and monolinguals. These final findings can inform the interpretation of the results from both the current and future studies, while the overall findings can inform the development of intervention programs, thereby improving the long-term academic and socioemotional outcomes of children with SLDs.
The proposed article highlights the peculiarities of psychological and pedagogical support of younger schoolchildren with speech disorders in the conditions of a special educational institution. It was determined that in order to achieve the effectiveness of psychological and pedagogical support for pupils with speech disorders, modern research recommends creating certain pedagogical conditions, namely, implementing a set of tools that contribute to the development of the educational and educational process. The research, based on a questionnaire, presents the opinions and experiences of the team members of the psychological and pedagogical support of younger schoolchildren in a special educational institution. The results revealed that the majority of pedagogical workers have an appropriate level of professional competence and practical skills necessary for successful work with children who have special educational needs, in particular, with speech disorders. It was determined that psychological and pedagogical support should be comprehensive and based on a multidisciplinary approach. It was determined that a special educational institution can be considered the optimal environment for the development of communication skills in children. It has been established that an important strategic step is to increase awareness and awareness of speech and communication difficulties among all employees of a special educational institution in order to create an appropriate educational environment. The obtained results of the study proved that the support of social interaction and the development of communication skills for children with speech disorders is vital, because it can help them acquire social and emotional skills for successful adaptation in adult life. However, according to research findings, parents and teachers do not sufficiently understand the needs of these children in the classroom and feel a lack of resources to provide adequate support.
Background: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder. Considering the pivotal role of epigenetics in neurodevelopment, we examined any altered DNA methylation between DLD and control subjects. Materials & methods: We looked into genome-wide methylation differences between DLD and control groups. The findings were validated by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Results: In the DLD group, differential methylation of CpG sites was observed in the Wnt signaling regulator genes APCDD1, AMOTL1, LRP5, MARK2, TMEM64, TRABD2B, VEPH1 and WNT2B. Hypomethylation of APCDD1, LRP5 and WNT2B was confirmed by qPCR. Conclusion: This is the first report associating Wnt signaling with DLD. The findings are relevant in the light of the essential role of Wnt in myelination, and of the altered myelination in DLD.
Background:
Individuals who visit hospitals with neurodevelopmental disorders have recently increased. To locate the cause for this increase, various factors, such as environmental and genetic ones, are being investigated. The objective of this study is to analyze the developmental delay in children and their background.
Methods:
The participants were children who underwent the checkup for 18-month-old children in Togane city, Japan, from 2011 to 2021; 4,145 children-2,147 boys and 1,998 girls with a mean age of 18.8 months-were included. To examine the tendency over time and the background, we used the questionnaire about development and lifestyle reported by parents.
Results:
The number of children who did not produce pointing gestures or respond to their names and low-volume sounds tended to increase over the survey period (p = 0.0125, p = 0.0435, p = 0.0275). Next, we examined the relationship between pointing gestures and lifestyle and found that there was a relationship between attending a nursery school and bedtime and pointing gestures.
Conclusion:
A slow developmental trend over the last decade has been observed among children. The background was related to attending a nursery school and bedtime, suggesting that interaction with others and sleep are important for the development of children.
Bibliografia do Novo Deit Libras, 3ª edição revista e ampliada (2015). A publicação lista 2.841 referências bibliográficas que foram consultadas para a elaboração da 3a. edição revista e ampliada do Novo Deit-Libras: Novo Dicionário Enciclopédico Ilustrado Trilíngue da Língua de Sinais Brasileira. As referências cobrem campos como os de Psicologia e Neuropsicologia Cognitivas e do Desenvolvimento, Linguística e Neuropsicolinguística Cognitiva, Educação, Educação de Surdos, História de Educação de Surdos, Filosofias educacionais em surdez, Fonoaudiologia, Antropologia Cultural, dentre muitos outros. Como esse dicionário propõe, em diversos capítulos associados, um novo modelo de lexicografia e lexicologia da Libras, grande esforço foi feito na justificação e explicação das bases desse modelo. O dicionário encarna, usa e ilustra esse novo modelo. References used in the New Encyclopedic Illustrated Dictionary of Brazilian Sign Language, 3rd edition (2015). The publication lists 2,841 references that were used to support the elaboration of the Brazilian Sign Language Encyclopedic Dictionary, 3rd edition. The references cover fields such as Cognitive and Developmental Psychology and Neuropsychology, Cognitive Linguistics and Neurolinguistics and Neuropsycholinguistics, Applied Linguistics, Lexicography, Lexicology, Education, Deaf Education, Special Education, History of Education, Bilingualism, History of Deaf Education, Speech Language Pathology, Cultural Anthropology, among many othes. In several chapters, this seminal dictionary advances a groundbreaking original model dicionário in sign language lexicography and lexicology. The chapters justify and explain such a model, which is embodied by the dictionary itself.
Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a neurodevelopmental condition, occurring in about 3% to 7% of preschoolers, that can impair communication and negatively impact educational and social attainments, in spite of adequate neurological, cognitive, emotional, social development, and educational opportunities for language learning. Significant risk factors for DLD are male sex, familial history of early language delay, low parental education, and various perinatal factors. A strong sex effect with a higher prevalence of language delay and DLD in males than in females has been consistently reported. Neurobiological and environmental risk factors, interacting with each other, are probably responsible for the phenotypic expression of DLD. The aim of this brief review is to further the knowledge of the role of sex in early language delay and DLD by analyzing the evidence from four significant sources: epidemiological studies, studies on twins, family aggregation studies, and studies on sex chromosome trisomies. Data pertaining only to sex differences (biological and physiological characteristics of females and males) will be analyzed. Studies on family aggregations and twins confirm the role of genetic factors and of sex in determining language abilities and disabilities, but genes alone do not determine outcomes. Sex chromosome trisomies represent a unique example of the relationship between a genetic alteration and a language disorder. Clarification of how sex acts in determining DLD could provide new information on early risk factors and, thus, contribute to improve diagnosis and clinical management.
The present selective review examines genetic influences on learning disabilities (LDs). We discuss recent advances in molecular genetics that have made linkage analysis a more powerful tool for studying the genetics of behavioral phenotypes. We also examine what is known about genetic influences in two familial disorders, developmental dyslexia and Tourette syndrome (TS). Although TS is not a LD, there are claims that it is associated with LDs as well as with other related behavioral phenotypes. We briefly consider an opposite strategy for examining genetic influences on LDs, that is, by beginning with a known genetic alteration and examining whether it leads to a specific LD phenotype. We also discuss criteria that must be satisfied before we can conclude either that a phenotype is genetically influenced or that a known genetic alteration leads to a specific and consistent cognitive phenotype. When these criteria are met, the study of genetic influences on LDs can be a powerful method for informing us about the neurobiology of cognitive development.
Some researchers argue that the ability to acquire and use language is largely the result of innate predispositions that are specific to language (the INNATENESS HYPOTHESIS). If the innateness hypothesis is correct, these predispositions must be encoded for in our DNA. This article reviews more than one hundred genetic studies of language. The results of these studies strongly suggest that genetic factors play a role in the variation in the rate of language acquisition and linguistic proficiency attained by children and adults. Genetic factors account for much of the variance in linguistic abilities among people with written or spoken language disorders and some of the variance in linguistic abilities among normal people. In addition to heritable factors that influence both nonverbal and verbal abilities, there appear to be genetic factors that specifically influence linguistic abilities. Furthermore, some studies suggest that different genetic factors are involved in different aspects of language (e.g. written language vs. spoken language; lexical vs. syntactic abilities).
Reading ability at Grade 2 was well predicted both by the incidence of reading problems in children's families and by individual differences among the children in vocabulary, phonological awareness, and early literacy skills at age 5 years. In contrast, sex, socioeconomic status, age, and preschool differences in IQ, nonverbal skills, early education, and reading and television-viewing habits were unrelated to subsequent reading acquisition. Greater accuracy of prediction was obtained when test results rather than self-reports were used to determine familial reading problems, but little support was found for the utility or reliability of a distinction between low achievement in reading and specific underachievement relative to IQ in prediction analyses.
Specific language impairment (SLI) is diagnosed in children who exhibit significant language deficits despite adequate educational opportunity and normal nonverbal intelligence. A diagnosis is made after the presence of other conditions—such as mental retardation, autism, hearing loss, cleft palate, and neurological disorders (e.g., cerebral palsy) that may give rise to language impairments—has been ruled out (Tomblin et al. 1996). Children with SLI differ in the degree to which they have problems articulating speech sounds, expressing themselves verbally, and comprehending the speech of others. Accordingly, SLI is broadly classified into three subtypes: phonological disorder, expressive-language disorder, and mixed expressive- and receptive-language disorder. However, the validity of this subtyping has been questioned, and, instead, it has been proposed that the variability in the profile of deficits may reflect variation in the severity of the underlying disorder.
This paper reports on the longitudinal results of a large project involving 242 seven-year-old children attending language units in England. Following our work outlining 6 subgroups of children with language impairment (Conti-Ramsden, Crutchley, & Botting, 1997), we examine the stability of the 6 subgroups of children with specific language impairment already identified, using data collected from the same children at age 8 years. The findings suggest there is considerable stability in the patterns of difficulties delineated by the classification system involving 6 subgroups. Poorer stability was evident in the classification of the children across time with 45% of children moving across subgroups. The membership stability of the proposed classification system was very similar to that found when the children were classified into 3 subgroups following another well-known system (Rapin, 1996). The findings are discussed with particular reference to issues surrounding the classification of children with SLI.
England This paper reports a longitudinal follow-up of 71 adolescents with a preschool history of speech-language impairment, originally studied by Bishop and Edmundson (1987). These children had been subdivided at 4 years into those with nonverbal IQ 2 SD below the mean (General Delay group), and those with normal nonverbal intelligence (SLI group). At age 5;6 the SLI group was subdivided into those whose language problems had resolved, and those with persistent SLI. The General Delay group was also followed up. At age 15–16 years, these children were compared with age-matched normal-language controls on a battery of tests of spoken language and literacy skills. Children whose language problems had resolved did not differ from controls on tests of vocabulary and language comprehension skills. However, they performed significantly less well on tests of phonological processing and literacy skill. Children who still had significant language difficulties at 5;6 had significant impairments in all aspects of spoken and written language functioning, as did children classified as having a general delay. These children fell further and further behind their peer group in vocabulary growth over time.
The Reporter's Test requires the patient to verbally report to a hypothetical third person the actions the examiner is performing on an array of tokens, so as to enable him to replicate them. These performances correspond for the most part to the commands of the Token Test. The aim is to have the patient produce connected sequences of words, the choice and order of which is determined in advance and can be easily scored.
The test was given to 70 normal controls, 60 aphasics (selected for absence of severe expressive impairment), 20 non-aphasic left brain-damaged patients and 20 right brain-damaged patients. Years of schooling, but not age, were found to significantly influence the performance and the scores were consequently corrected. The inferior 5% limit of the 90% tolerance interval around the controls' mean was choosen as the cutting score discriminating a normal from a pathological performance. The hit rate of the Reporter's Test was 92% in the aphasic group. The percentage of non-aphasic left brain-damaged patients and right brain-damaged patients who scored below the cutting point and would, therefore, be erroneously classified as aphasic, was 10% and 15%, respectively. The screening power of the Reporter's Test was clearly superior to that of other expressive tests that were given to aphasic and non-aphasic brain-damaged patients. Besides the pass or fail score, a wheighted score, which takes into account the number of correct words chosen in the first four parts of the test, was used. Although somewhat inferior as a screening device, it presents the advantage of allowing a more graded evaluation of aphasics' performance.
Abstract A pedigree analysis was performed for a 50 member, multigenerational family ascertained for an SLI proband. Rates of impairment for language, reading, spelling, and rate processing were examined. In addition, composite affectation