Problems in the Identification and Assessment of Children with Specific Speech and Language Difficulties

Abstract

Summary Children with specific speech and language impairments are a challenge to professionals. The present study sampled speech and language therapists’ and educational psychologists’ beliefs and understandings of the group of children thought to experience a specific language impairment. Difficulties exist for both groups in the identification and assessment of these children. Marked differences existed in conceptualisation of the problem, patterns of assessment, the importance of discrepancy analysis and the educational psychologists’ role. These differences are discussed in the light of the controversies surrounding specific learning difficulties and the nature of language development.