dc.contributor.author | Reilly, Sheena | |
dc.contributor.author | Tomblin, Bruce | |
dc.contributor.author | Law, James | |
dc.contributor.author | McKean, Cristina | |
dc.contributor.author | Mensah, Fiona K | |
dc.contributor.author | Morgan, Angela | |
dc.contributor.author | Goldfeld, Sharon | |
dc.contributor.author | Nicholson, Jan M | |
dc.contributor.author | Wake, Melissa | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2018-04-27T03:23:55Z | |
dc.date.available | 2018-04-27T03:23:55Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2014 | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1368-2822 | |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1111/1460-6984.12102 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10072/173204 | |
dc.description.abstract | Background: The term ‘specific language impairment’ (SLI), in use since the 1980s, describes children with language
impairment whose cognitive skills are within normal limits where there is no identifiable reason for the language
impairment. SLI is determined by applying exclusionary criteria, so that it is defined by what it is not rather
than by what it is. The recent decision to not include SLI in DSM-5 provoked much debate and concern from
researchers and clinicians.
Aims: To explore how the term ‘specific language impairment’ emerged, to consider how disorders, including SLI,
are generally defined and to explore how societal changes might impact on use the term.
Methods & Procedures: We reviewed the literature to explore the origins of the term ‘specific language impairment’
and present published evidence, as well as new analyses of population data, to explore the validity of continuing
to use the term.
Outcomes & Results and Conclusions & Implications: We support the decision to exclude the term ‘specific language
impairment’ from DSM-5 and conclude that the term has been a convenient label for researchers, but that the
current classification is unacceptably arbitrary. Furthermore, we argue there is no empirical evidence to support
the continued use of the term SLI and limited evidence that it has provided any real benefits for children and their
families. In fact, the term may be disadvantageous to some due to the use of exclusionary criteria to determine
eligibility for and access to speech pathology services. We propose the following recommendations. First, that the
word ‘specific’ be removed and the label ‘language impairment’ be used. Second, that the exclusionary criteria
be relaxed and in their place inclusionary criteria be adopted that take into account the fluid nature of language
development particularly in the preschool period. Building on the goodwill and collaborations between the clinical
and research communities we propose the establishment of an international consensus panel to develop an agreed
definition and set of criteria for language impairment. Given the rich data now available in population studies it
is possible to test the validity of these definitions and criteria. Consultation with service users and policy-makers
should be incorporated into the decision-making process. | |
dc.description.peerreviewed | Yes | |
dc.language | English | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.publisher | John Wiley & Sons | |
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom | 416 | |
dc.relation.ispartofpageto | 451 | |
dc.relation.ispartofissue | 4 | |
dc.relation.ispartofjournal | International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders | |
dc.relation.ispartofvolume | 49 | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearch | Clinical sciences | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearch | Clinical sciences not elsewhere classified | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearch | Cognitive and computational psychology | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearch | Linguistics | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode | 3202 | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode | 320299 | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode | 5204 | |
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode | 4704 | |
dc.title | Specific language impairment: A convenient label for whom? | |
dc.type | Journal article | |
dc.type.description | C1 - Articles | |
dc.type.code | C - Journal Articles | |
dcterms.license | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ | |
dc.description.version | Version of Record (VoR) | |
gro.rights.copyright | © 2014 The Authors International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. | |
gro.hasfulltext | Full Text | |
gro.griffith.author | Reilly, Sheena | |