Developmental Language Disorder Group Research Articles

L1–L2 phonological skills predict L2 early literacy in bilinguals with developmental language disorder

In this study, we investigated first- (L1) and second-language (L2) vocabulary and phonology, and selective attention, as precursors of L2 early literacy in bilingual kindergartners with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). We compared typically developing (TD) and DLD bilinguals with TD/DLD monolinguals (n = 157, MAGE = 3;8), and examined how TD/DLD bilinguals' precursor abilities predicted L2 phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and letter knowledge. The precursor variables were assessed during preschool, including L1/L2 Dutch and L1 Turkish/Polish. Two years later, we assessed L2 Dutch early literacy. The results showed that at preschool, DLD bilinguals scored lower than the other groups on L1 vocabulary and L1–L2 phonology. By kindergarten, bilingual and DLD groups had poorer Dutch rhyme and RAN than monolingual and TD groups, respectively. Combined L1–L2 phonological skills predicted phonological awareness and RAN among TD/DLD bilinguals. We conclude that poorer L1–L2 phonology in DLD bilingual preschoolers poses a risk for their L2 early literacy at kindergarten.

The informant matters: Differences in bullying victim categorization rates assessed with self- and peer-reports in children with developmental language disorder and reading difficulties

BackgroundChildren with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and Reading Difficulties (RD) can show more peer relation problems depending on the informant. Aims(1) To explore bullying victims' categorization, evaluated by self- and peer-reports, in children with DLD and RD; and (2) to assess agreement rates between informants. Method and proceduresVictimization was assessed using a self-report (EBIP-Q) and a peer-report sociogram (CESC) in a sample of 83 participants (9–12 years; 10.5 ± 1.1 years), comprising of DLD (n = 19), RD (n = 32), and Control (n = 32) groups. Outcomes and ResultsWe found a higher frequency of the rejected sociometric profile in the DLD and RD groups, a higher peer-reported victimization in the DLD group, and more severe self-reported victimization in the DLD and RD groups. Odds of being classified as victimized were higher for self-report except in the DLD group. Informants’ agreement was high using the most restrictive EBIP-Q criterion (7 points) for both the Control and the RD groups, being non-significant for the DLD group regardless of the criteria used. Conclusions and ImplicationsWe found a higher victimization risk in children with language difficulties, although self-assessment seems to under-detect children with DLD according to the agreement rates, pointing out the need to combine assessments and informants. What does this paper add?Several studies have shown that children with DLD or RD obtain higher scores of victimization and score lower on several scales of social skills with continuous data. Although continuous analyses are usual in research, professional decisions are usually based on cut-off criteria more than how high or low a score is in contrast to another group. This is one of the first works that analyses victimization following the cut-off criteria of self and peer assessments that professionals used in the school settings in children with DLD and RD. Our results will raise awareness among school professionals based on the evidence about the high risk of victimization, especially in children with DLD, and the implications of selecting between several measures of victimization, in this group of children. We think that our results would help to better detect and prevent bullying in schools for children with DLD.

Narrative skills and language comprehension in preschool children with cochlear implants: A comparison with children with Developmental Language Disorder or typical development

IntroductionThe narrative skills of children with cochlear implants (CIs) are fragile, but the factors at play and whether these difficulties could be similar to those detected in language impairment are not clear. The present study aims to assess, at the microstructural level, narrative skills, comparing children with CIs with children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) or Typical Development (TD). Furthermore, the relationship between verbal (lexical and morphosyntactic) comprehension and narrative skills across groups is investigated. MethodsThe narratives of 19 children with CIs (Mage = 62.42 months, SD = 6.83), 13 children with DLD (Mage = 65.38 months, SD = 4.27), and 18 preschool children with TD (Mage = 63.67 months, SD = 4.31) were assessed in a standardized task. Articles, prepositions, pronouns, gender and number agreement, accuracy in the use of verbs, and number of arguments in each sentence were analysed. Lexical and morphosyntactic comprehension were also assessed. Performance was compared across groups using ANOVAs or Kruskal–Wallis tests. The role of lexical and morphosyntactic comprehension in predicting each morphological and syntactic element in the narrative task was examined using linear regressions. ResultsData analysis showed that both children with CIs and DLD had fragilities in narration, both in the morphological and syntactic components. Although some differences between children with CIs and those with DLD emerged in descriptive analyses, these were not statistically significant. Regressions showed that morphosyntactic comprehension predicted the number of pronouns produced only in the TD group. ConclusionsThe scarce differences between CI and DLD groups and the absence of an effect of morphosyntactic comprehension on pronoun production may be due to their low production of these elements in the narrative task and/or to a difficulty in managing pronouns in an expressive task regardless of their ability to comprehend them. Potential implications of these results are discussed.

Procedural Memory Deficits in Preschool Children with Developmental Language Disorder in a Spanish-Speaking Population.

This study aimed to compare procedural learning skills between Spanish-speaking preschool children (ages 4 years to 4 years, 11 months) with developmental language disorder (DLD) and their chronologically matched typically developing (TD) peers. Using the serial reaction time (SRT) task, participants (30 children with DLD and 30 TD children) responded to visual stimuli in a sequenced manner over four blocks, followed by a random order block. The task assessed reaction time (RT) and accuracy. The results showed a significant interaction between group and block for RT and accuracy, with children with DLD exhibiting longer RTs and accuracy deficits across blocks. In contrast, the TD group showed higher RT efficiency and accuracy in the sequential blocks and, as expected, decreased performance in the random block according to the experimental manipulation. Overall, the results of this investigation suggest that there was no implicit learning in the DLD group, as indicated by the SRT task paradigms of procedural memory. These findings align with some aspects of the procedural deficit hypothesis (PDH), which suggests that linguistic deficits in the DLD population may derive from a deficit in sequential learning from the procedural memory system domain in the Spanish context.

Hypomethylation of Wnt signaling regulator genes in developmental language disorder.

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.

Comprehension of definite expressions by Mandarin-speaking children with suspected developmental language disorder (DLD) and children with autism spectrum disorder and language impairment (ALI)

An increasing number of studies have shown that there is a subgroup inside children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who demonstrates impaired language profiles similar to children with developmental language disorder (DLD). As a discriminative marker, the determiner element is known to be particularly vulnerable in children with DLD, while less is known about the situation in children with ASD who show accompanying language impairment (ALI). The current study therefore investigates whether and how Mandarin-speaking children with DLD and children with ALI differ in their comprehension of definite expressions.To this end, 28 children with suspected DLD (Mean=5;2, SD=0;7), 32 children with ALI (Mean=5;3, SD=0;8), and 28 typically-developing children (Mean=5;3, SD=0;5) participated in the present study. Each child was experimentally tested on a series of picture judgment tasks, in which demonstrative-classifier NPs, third-person pronouns, and bare NPs were examined in the anaphoric environment.The findings showed that neither of the suspected DLD or ALI groups performed at target-like levels on the three definite expressions. This is most likely caused by the two groups’ immature knowledge of the syntax-semantics interface within the DP construction. Nonetheless, there remains a significant difference in the interpretation of third-person pronouns between the suspected DLD and ALI groups, with the worse performance in the latter group presumably resulting from co-morbid processing differences typical of individuals with ASD.

Effect of online parent training in promoting language development of children with language delay in Hubei province, China.

Training parents to implement language and communication intervention strategies is an effective approach to promote language development for children with language delay. This study introduces an online parent training program conducted in Hubei province, China, which was designed to help parents of language-delayed children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), developmental language disorder (DLD) or global developmental delay (GDD) apply language intervention strategies into daily interactions and promote their children's language development at home. The Bethel Hearing and Speaking Training Center Family Training for Early Communication & Language Development (Bethel Family Training Program, BFT) (Bethel HSTC, 2020) was designed to improve the language and communication skills for children with language delay in a naturalistic way. The caregivers (including parents, grandparents and other main caregivers) participated in an 8-h online program, including lectures on milestones in child language development, common misunderstandings of child language development, and three basic family language intervention strategies ('Looking together, playing together, and talking together') incorporating active learning through video analysis and discussion. Tongji Hospital in Hubei then continued with 3 months of online home intervention monitoring to all the caregivers via weekly online Q&As led by BFT certified speech therapists' team. The Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) was carried out before the online parent training program and after the 3-month online home intervention monitoring. 146 families whose children aged 12-68 months with language delay participated in the online training program. The results of the GDS assessments conducted before and after the program showed that not only did the developmental quotient (DQ) of language improve, but so did the DQ of social behaviour and adaptive behaviour (p < 0.001). There is no between-group difference in the application of three strategies between the ASD group and the DLD or GDD group (p > 0.05). Furthermore, both caregivers' ability to apply 'looking together, playing together, talking together' strategies and the effective interaction time played important roles in improving the child's language abilities. The online parent training focusing on improving daily interaction with children through speech-language stimulation strategies promoted the development of language skills. It is an economic and practical approach for children with language delay who have limited access to local language intervention programs. What is already known on the subject Parent-implemented language intervention is an effective approach at improving children's language development. Telepractice is an appropriate model of service delivery for audiologists and speech-language therapists and may be the primary mode of service delivery or may supplement in-person services. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge This paper explores the effectiveness of an online parent training program and provides new evidence that online training on language support strategies (looking together, playing together, talking together) followed by home intervention monitoring works for Mandarin-speaking children and it is equally effective for children with ASD and non-ASD diagnosis. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Developmental behavioural paediatricians and speech-language therapists in countries and areas that lack sufficient training resource for every child will have the option to deliver parent training and home intervention monitoring online, which will save time and cost considerably while offering convenience.

Mismatch Responses to Speech Contrasts in Preschoolers with and without Developmental Language Disorder.

This study compared cortical responses to speech in preschoolers with typical language development (TLD) and with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). We investigated whether top-down language effects modulate speech perception in young children in an adult-like manner. We compared cortical mismatch responses (MMRs) during the passive perception of speech contrasts in three groups of participants: preschoolers with TLD (n = 11), preschoolers with DLD (n = 16), and adults (n = 20). We also measured children's phonological skills and investigated whether they are associated with the cortical discrimination of phonemic changes involving different linguistic complexities. The results indicated top-down language effects in adults, with enhanced cortical discrimination of lexical stimuli but not of non-words. In preschoolers, the TLD and DLD groups did not differ in the MMR measures, and no top-down effects were detected. Moreover, we found no association between MMRs and phonological skills, even though the DLD group's phonological skills were significantly lower. Our findings suggest that top-down language modulations in speech discrimination may not be present during early childhood, and that children with DLD may not exhibit cortical speech perception deficits. The lack of association between phonological and MMR measures indicates that further research is needed to understand the link between language skills and cortical activity in preschoolers.

Development and psychometric evaluation of an Azerbaijani-Turkish grammar comprehension test

Due to the lack of appropriate developmental language tests in the Azerbaijani-Turkish language, the present study aimed to develop the Azerbaijani-Turkish grammar comprehension test (ATGCT) for children aged 4–6 years and determine its validity and reliability. This study was conducted in three phases. First, the target grammatical structures were extracted during the item generation phase. Second, item reduction and content validity ratio (CVR) were calculated. The content validity index (CVI) was determined after designing the items. This test was administered to typically developing children (TD) (N = 30). Face validity was confirmed and modifications were applied. The second version of the test was performed on 170 TD and 60 children with developmental language disorder (DLD) aged 4–6 years were selected using the random cluster method. Third, item analysis was performed, and eight items were removed. The construct validity, reliability, and ROC analysis of the final form of the test were evaluated. The psychometric properties considered in the study included construct validity (group, gender, and age discriminative validity) and reliability (test–retest, inter-rater, and internal consistency). The final test version contained 56 items and confirmed face validity. The Scale Content Validity was .91, and the Item Content Validity was between .8 and 1. The test showed a content validity ratio of .96, indicating that it assesses appropriate content. The construct validity analysis revealed significant differences between the TD and DLD groups and among the four age groups. Test–retest and inter-rater reliability were significantly correlated. Furthermore, the high correlation between test items (ICC= .90) demonstrated that the ATGCT had excellent internal consistency. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis results indicated that the test had high sensitivity and specificity in all four age groups and effectively distinguished children with TD and those with DLD. In conclusion, based on the psychometric assessment of the test, it appears that the ATGCT has appropriate values for reliability and validity measures, and it can be used as the first suitable and quick test by researchers and clinicians.

The role of vocabulary and grammar in the listening text comprehension of school-age Cantonese-speaking children with developmental language disorder

The current study examined the role of vocabulary and grammar in the listening comprehension of school-age Cantonese-speaking children with developmental language disorder in Hong Kong. Participants were 692 typically developing children (TD) and 53 children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and they were tested with a standardized test of oral Cantonese, which includes measures on listening comprehension, receptive and expressive grammar, expressive vocabulary, word definition and lexical relations. The results from multiple regression analysis revealed that listening comprehension of the TD group was explained by receptive grammar, expressive vocabulary, and lexical relationships. However, children of the DLD group mainly relied on a subset of their vocabulary knowledge, as measured in a lexical relation task on antonym, in understanding the text under the constraint of a limited grammatical knowledge.

Declarative Learning Mechanisms Support Declarative but Not Probabilistic Feedback-Based Learning in Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).

Declarative and probabilistic feedback-based learning was evaluated in 8-12-year-old school-age children with developmental language disorder (DLD; n = 14) and age-matched children with typical development (TD; n = 15). Children performed a visual two-choice word-learning task and a visual probabilistic classification task while their electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded non-invasively from the scalp. Behavioral measures of accuracy and response to feedback, and electrophysiological responses to feedback were collected and compared between the two groups. While behavioral data indicated poorer performance by children with DLD in both learning paradigms, and similar response patterns to positive and negative feedback, electrophysiological data highlighted processing patterns in the DLD group that differed by task. More specifically, in this group, feedback processing in the context of declarative learning, which is known to be dominated by the medial temporal lobe (MTL), was associated with enhanced N170, an event-related brain potential (ERP) associated with MTL activation. The N170 amplitude was found to be correlated with declarative task performance in the DLD group. During probabilistic learning, known to be governed by the striatal-based learning system, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) ERP, which is the product of the cortico-striatal circuit dominated feedback processing. Within the context of probabilistic learning, enhanced N170 was associated with poor learning in the TD group, suggesting that MTL activation during probabilistic learning disrupts learning. These results are interpreted within the context of a proposed feedback parity hypothesis suggesting that in children with DLD, the system that dominates learning (i.e., MTL during declarative learning and the striatum during probabilistic learning) dominates and supports feedback processing.

Grammaticality Judgments of Tense and Agreement by Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder Across Dialects of English.

Within General American English (GAE), the grammar weaknesses of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have been documented with many tasks, including grammaticality judgments. Recently, Vaughn et al. replicated this finding with a judgment task targeting tense and agreement (T/A) structures for children who spoke African American English (AAE), a dialect that contains a greater variety of T/A forms than GAE. In the current study, we further tested this finding for children who spoke Southern White English (SWE), another dialect that contains a greater variety of T/A forms than GAE but less variety than AAE. Then, combining the SWE and AAE data, we explored the effects of a child's dialect, clinical group, and production of T/A forms on the children's judgments. The data were from 88 SWE-speaking children (DLD, n = 18; typically developing [TD], n = 70) and 91 AAE-speaking children (DLD, n = 34; TD, n = 57) previously studied. As in the AAE study, the SWE judgment data were examined both with A' scores and percentages of acceptability, with comparisons between dialects made on percentages of acceptability. As in AAE, the SWE DLD group had significantly different A' scores and percentages of acceptability than the SWE TD group for all sentence types, including those with T/A structures. Additional analyses indicated that the judgments of the TD but not the DLD groups showed dialect effects. Except for verbal -s, overt production and grammaticality judgments were correlated for the TD but not for the DLD groups. Children with DLD across dialects of English present grammar difficulties that affect their ability to make judgments about sentences. More cross-dialectal research is needed to better understand the grammatical weaknesses of childhood DLD, especially for structures such as verbal -s that are expressed differently across dialects of English.

Procedural auditory category learning is selectively disrupted in developmental language disorder.

Speech communication depends on accurate perception and identification of speech sounds, which vary across talkers and word or sentence contexts. The ability to map this variable input onto discrete speech sound representations relies on categorization. Recent research and theoretical models implicate the procedural learning system in the ability to learn novel speech and non-speech categories. This connection is particularly intriguing because several language disorders that demonstrate linguistic impairments are proposed to stem from procedural learning and memory dysfunction. One such disorder, Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), affects 7.5% of children and persists into adulthood. While DLD is associated with general linguistic impairments, it is not yet clear how fundamental perceptual and cognitive processes supporting language are impacted, such as the ability to learn novel auditory categories. We examined auditory category learning in children with DLD and typically developed (TD) children using two well-matched nonspeech auditory category learning challenges to draw upon presumed procedural (information-integration) versus declarative (rule-based) learning systems. We observed impaired information-integration category learning and intact rule-based category learning in the DLD group. Quantitative model-based analyses revealed reduced use of, and slower shifting to, optimal procedural-based strategies in DLD and slower shifting to but similarly efficient use of optimal hypothesis-testing strategies. The dissociation is consistent with the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis of language disorders and supports the theoretical distinction of multiple category learning systems. These findings demonstrate that highly controlled experimental tasks assessing perceptual and cognitive abilities can relate to real-world challenges facing individuals with DLD in forming stable linguistic representations.

Children With Developmental Language Disorder Have Lower Quality of Life Than Children With Typical Development and Children With Cochlear Implants.

The purpose of this study was to examine quality of life (QOL) and its relation to language skills in children with developmental language disorder (DLD). This was examined by comparing QOL to a control group of children with typical development (TD), as well as children with cochlear implants (CIs), who potentially struggle with language for language, although for a different reason than children with DLD. Two groups of children, a group with TD (n = 29) and a group of children with CIs (n = 29), were matched to the DLD group (n = 29) on chronological age, gender, nonverbal IQ, and parental educational level through a propensity matching procedure. A third group consisting of children with CIs was also matched to the DLD group but additionally matched on language abilities. QOL scores were compared across groups, and the association between language skills and QOL was examined in the DLD group. The DLD group was reported by parents to have statistically significantly poorer QOL scores than peers with TD or CIs. When controlling for language skills, either statistically or through an additional CI group matched on language abilities, there were no statistically significant differences in QOL scores across groups. In the DLD group, language skills explained 16% of the variation in QOL. DLD is associated with the children's overall QOL, and the degree of reduced QOL relates to the severity of the language impairment.

The relationship between mean length of utterance (MLU), Persian developmental sentence score (PDSS), and photographic expressive Persian grammar test (PEGT) in typically developing children and those with developmental language disorder (DLD)

Purpose This study investigated the relationship between three practical measures for evaluating Persian grammar expression skills, MLU, PDSS, and PEGT, in preschool children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and their typically developing (TD) peers. Method Secondary data were obtained by re-analyzing language samples collected in previous studies. Previously audiotaped language samples of 25 monolingual 5–7 years-old Persian children with DLD and 25 TD children were transcribed and reanalyzed to calculate MLU in words (MLU-w) and PDSS for comparison with the results of PEGT. Results Children with DLD had lower scores in PEGT, PDSS, and MLU-w than TD children (p < 0.001). In addition, there was a strong correlation between PDSS and MLU-w in both DLD (r = 0.91) and TD groups (r = 0.79). There was a significant correlation between PEGT and MLU (r = 0.76) and PDSS (r = 0.78) in the DLD group, while these correlations were not significant in TD group. Conclusions Considering the positive and significant correlation between MLU, PDSS, and PEGT in children with DLD, the use of PEGT, as a valid, reliable, and accurate test of grammar, which can be implemented quickly and easily, is suggested for clinical purposes of identification and screening of Persian children with DLD.

With or without Feedback?-How the Presence of Feedback Affects Processing in Children with Developmental Language Disorder.

Language acquisition depends on the ability to process and learn probabilistic information, often through the integration of performance feedback. Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have demonstrated weaknesses in both probabilistic learning and feedback processing, but the individual effects of each skill are poorly understood in this population. This study examined school-aged children with DLD (n = 29) and age- and gender-matched children with typical development (TD; n = 44) on a visual probabilistic classification learning task presented with and without feedback. In the feedback-based version of the task, children received performance feedback on a trial-by-trial basis during the training phase of the task. In the feedback-free version, children responded after seeing the correct choice marked with a green border and were not presented with feedback. Children with TD achieved higher accuracy than children with DLD following feedback-based training, while the two groups achieved similar levels of accuracy following feedback-free training. Analyses of event-related potentials (ERPs) provided insight into stimulus encoding processes. The feedback-free task was dominated by a frontal slow wave (FSW) and a late parietal component (LPC) which were not different between the two groups. The feedback-based task was dominated by a parietal slow wave (PSW) and an LPC, both of which were found to be larger in the TD than in the DLD group. In combination, results suggest that engagement with feedback boosts learning in children with TD, but not in children with DLD. When the need to process feedback is eliminated, children with DLD demonstrate behavioral and neurophysiological responses similar to their peers with TD.

Plural Suffixation Skills in Developmental Language Disorders: A Preliminary Investigation From Bilectal Cypriot-Greek-Speaking Children With DLD

Young children are known to make significant progress in learning their native language during the first 4 years of their life. Nonetheless, delays or differences in patterns of language acquisition can be cautiously determined and be sensitive indicators of developmental issues. The current paper displays an investigation that examines plural suffixation skills in preschool bilectal Cypriot-Greek (CG)-speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD) as compared with their age-matched typically developing peers. Predictions have been made based on the Interpretability Hypothesis (IH) theoretical context postulating that grammatical features (inflections for Tense and Case Features) will be differentially affected in DLD depending on the phonological saliency inherent to specific inflection typology. Developmental language disorder diagnosis was based on exclusionary criteria and on clinical markers based on the language samples analyzed for grammatical errors, including the omission of articles in obligatory contexts, clitic misplacement, incorrect suffixation of plural targets, agreement errors, omission of negation, and reduced Mean Length of Utterance in Words (MLUw). A non-real-word experimental paradigm was used to test subject performance of plural suffixation. Findings revealed that plural suffixation difficulty was not an all-or-none phenomenon. Both erroneous and correct responses were identified during both experimental tasks. In addition, errors were observed in both groups of preschool children; nonetheless, the proportion of errors was recorded to be higher in the DLD group.

The Language Environment at Home of Children With (a Suspicion of) a Developmental Language Disorder and Relations With Standardized Language Measures.

This study compares the home language environments of children with (a suspicion of) developmental language disorder (DLD) with that of children with typical development (TD). It does so by adopting new technology that automatically provides metrics about children's language environment (Language ENvironment Analysis [LENA]). In addition, relationships between LENA metrics and standardized language tests are explored in the DLD group. Ninety-nine 2- to 4-year-old toddlers participated: 59 with (a suspicion of) DLD and 40 with TD. LENA metrics on adult word count, conversational turn count, and child vocalization count were obtained. For all children, data on parental education and multilingualism were available. In the DLD group, data were collected on receptive and expressive vocabulary and grammar, and on nonverbal intelligence, using standardized tests. We found lower adult word count, conversational turn count, and child vocalization count in the DLD group, independent of multilingualism but not of parental education. In the DLD group, receptive vocabulary was related to conversational turn count and child vocalization count, but not to adult word count. Expressive vocabulary, receptive grammar, and expressive grammar were not related to LENA metrics. Toddlers with (a suspicion of) DLD vocalize less at home than children with TD. They also hear fewer adult words and experience fewer conversational turns. Children with DLD's language outcomes are to a limited extent related to language environment at home. Conversational turns and child vocalizations are in this respect more important than adult words, in line with findings for TD populations.

Between Shifting and Feedback Processing in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in Children with Developmental Language Disorder.

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) demonstrate deficits in executive functioning; however, the specific components of executive functioning that are affected in this population are not well understood. This study evaluated set shifting and feedback processing in a Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) performed by 24 children with and without DLD. The behavioral results revealed poorer performance by the DLD group in measures of accuracy, proportion of correct rule shifts, perseverative errors on shift trials, and proportion of effective responses to feedback. Electrophysiological measures (event-related potentials, or ERPs) indicated different patterns of response to negative feedback that signaled the need for rule shifting, with the DLD group showing a trend toward processing shift cues as negative feedback. Group differences were found in the processing of the first and last positive feedback, with overall stronger responses to positive feedback by children with DLD. However, both groups showed a similar pattern of diminished attention to positive feedback when rule learning was established. Taken together, children with DLD demonstrated the inefficient processing of negative feedback in the context of rule-shifting and difficulty in establishing and maintaining a rule.

Grammatical comprehension in language and communication disorders

ABSTRACT Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have traditionally been considered separate disorders, although some similarities and overlaps in certain aspects of language have been detected. In this paper, we compare the deficits in receptive grammar in these two disorders. We analyse the proportion of grammatical errors in relation to semantic complexity in 84 children divided into four groups: children with autism language impairment (ALI), with autism language normal (ALN), with DLD, and with typical development (TD), all groups with the same age of receptive vocabulary. The results show significant differences in the comprehension of grammatical structures, both simple (canonical and non-reversible) and complex (non-canonical and reversible). Children with ASD and DLD show different language profiles depending on the syntactic complexity. In the simplest structures, no differences are found between the groups, starting at an equivalent vocabulary age of 7:8 years. However, there are differences between the ALI and DLD groups with respect to the TD group in the more complex structures, starting at an equivalent vocabulary age of 3 years. Therefore, both groups ALI and DLD present the greatest difficulties compared to ALN and TD. The paper discusses the importance of attending to these differences, since the repercussion of comprehension difficulties increases as children grow.