Undiagnosed language disorders as underlying factors in social, learning and behavioural difficulties

Abstract

Background and objectives: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is associated with long-term negative effects on the development of affected children in terms of social adjustment, learning, emotional and behavioural problems, without language intervention. Conceptual difficulties in distinguishing between categories of SEN and social, learning and behavioural difficulties (SLBD) and prevalence rates suggest that diagnostic selection and the methods of educational support are likely to be problematic in the case of children with DLD in our country. The aim of our study was to investigate the spoken language abilities of children with SLBD and to determine the prevalence of language disorders among them.

Method: Spoken language skills - sentence comprehension, expressive vocabulary, morphosyntactic reconstruction - of 123 children aged 5;4 - 12;7 years classified as those with SLBD was measured using the Complex Oral Language Ability Test (KOBAK, Lukács & Kas, 2024).

Results: The SLBD group showed a significant lag in their spoken language skills compared to standard age norms. Based on individual assessment of performances, 78% of the SLBD group was characterised as having a language disorder. The most common language profile was a disorder involving both receptive and expressive functions (54.2%), with a smaller proportion of purely expressive (27%) and receptive language disorders (14.6%).

Conclusions: The results suggest that a significant proportion of children with SLBD may have difficulties due to unrecognised language disorders. These disorders have an impact on school performance, social relationships and can be a significant long-term limitation for the individuals concerned, although accurate identification and specific intervention could greatly reduce these difficulties.