A Follow-Up Study of Treated and Untreated Greek Adolescents with a History of Specific Developmental Language Disorder

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Research has shown that specific developmental language disorders (SDLD) may develop over time into other impairments or disorders. For instance, children with these diagnoses often show learning, social adjustment or behaviour disorders in adolescence. On the other hand, many professionals claim that early intervention has a significant effect on these disorders. The question which arises is whether early intervention can forestall the development of these more serious consequences in adolescence. The aim of this study is to examine adolescents who had been diagnosed with SDLD in childhood and who had attended during their preschool years an Early Intervention Programme (EIP) within a Community Mental Health Centre. These adolescents’ outcomes are compared with those of adolescents who had also been diagnosed with SDLD, but who had not complied with therapy. The experimental group (N=44), now have a mean age of 13 years, whereas the control group (N=52), who had not accepted therapy, have a mean age of 14 years. The parameters which were investigated were school achievement, social and emotional adjustment, behaviour, language skills, and their parents’ attitudes. Statistical analysis shows that although some of the treated adolescents now exhibit learning difficulties, those who began their therapy before the age of 5 are presently showing significantly better concentration and behaviour than all the other groups. In conclusion, early intervention seems to be effective for children with SDLD and may restrict the appearance of more serious social adjustment and behavioural problems in adolescence. Keywords: social, behavioural, academic outcomes, SLI, early intervention, adolescence. Read more →