specific language impairment (SLI)
- determined by Exclusionary criteria
- a child who has significant language impairment without associated hearing loss, cognitive deficit, neurological, or motor impairments
exclusionary criteria defined
there are other causes that need to be ruled out before we can it SLI
major characteristics of SLI
- language test score -1.25 standard deviations or lower
- nonverbal IQ of 85 or higher
- normal hearing
- no oral abnormalities
- no neurological disorder
- normal social ability
3 major sub-types of SLI
- major delay in receptive language
- major delay in expressive language
- delay in both
late talkers
term for late bloomers, before the age of 4. There children catch up to their peers in late pre-school
gender and SLI
-some experts report that SLI occurs more frequently in males than females, at a ratio of 3:1
genetic causes of SLI
current research that SLI may be hereditary
- the extended optional infinitive theory
- surface theory describe inherited deficits priming SLI
child environment causes of SLI
- not the cause of SLI
- lack of enough language stimulation to acquire adequate language production
- children with SLI require more intense and focuses stimulation to become language proficient
- parent-child communication patters should be monitored and sometimes modified to foster language
major deficits of children with SLI
- morphosyntax (primary area)
- verb issues
- possessive issues
- pronoun issues
- difficulty learning complex syntax and vocab
associated problems with SLI
-problems with interactive communication, phonological impairment, processing difficulty
-presence of neurological soft signs
59% of SLI children also have ADHD
80% have reading problems
-writing and spelling also poses challenges
social communication: 3 treatment paradigms
social interaction with peers
peer confederate training
sociodramatic script training
peer confederate training
taking typically developing peers of the child and have them create a natural environment for the client and play and talk with them
sociodramatic script training
as much consistency or practice you can do with snack time, lunch time, clean up
-help child plan a few scripts for natural, everyday occurrences, we can build on that
social communication skills (more functional)
peer entry
answering, asking, commenting
conflict negotiation
peer entry
getting involved and initiating
-how can we provide them this opportunity? - being able to comment on what other kids are doing, answering/asking questions from peers
conflict negotiation
hard for students with SLI, not sure how to handle conflict, and they become physical to the other child or adult
strategies for young children in peer mediated intervention
identify problem behavior
teach appropriate behavior
support practice
strategies for school-age students
encourage understanding of others emotions
practice established social routines
use and understand “hidden communication”
assessment for children with SLI
in-depth LSA
Norm-referenced preschool language scale
criterion-reference/naturalistic assessment
-parent-child toy play and book reading
-curriculum-based language assessment
parent-child interaction assessment
aligned with social interaction theory
-children likely to use complex language in familiar routines
-identifies parent’s scaffolding strategies
child’s play may reveal the child’s level of cognitive development (cognitive theory)
documents target behaviors and the antecedent event and reinforcement (behaviorist)
curriculum-based language assessment
- assess language skills of student
- identifies knowledge and language required to succeed academically
- identifies instructional modifications to enhance success
- results in meaningful intervention goals
- requires close collaboration between the SLP and classroom teacher- building relationships with other professionals
intervention approaches for SLI
enhanced Milieu training (EMT)
-appropriate for beginning language learners
-a naturalistic child-centered strategy (play based)
-aims for responsive conversational skills in everyday communication contexts
-parents are trained to be the child’s primary language teacher
-focuses on vocab development and early semantics
strategies include: mand model, time-delay, incidental teaching
-working on semantics
mand-model
giving some kind of specific direction/requesting a response from the child
ex= do you want milk or juice? or tell me what you want.
-work in hierarchy (start with broad questions)
time delay
providing prompt and waiting a response
-showing expectation for the child to respond
ex= doing something with the child and then you stop, wait for them to ask for more or ask for something else
