Speak Out Feb 2017

Association news

SPA adopts terminology for language disorder and DLD

Speech Pathology Australia has endorsed the adoption of the terminology recommended by the CATALISE consortium in future publications and communications.

language impairments. Speech pathologists who work with children are encouraged to acquaint themselves with the statements reported by the CATALISE consortium. Phase 2 resulted in consensus on 19 of the 21 statements. Two of those statements made recommendations regarding terminology. “Statement 2: The term ‘language disorder’ is proposed for children who are likely to have language problems enduring into middle childhood and beyond, with a significant impact on everyday social interactions or educational progress.” “Statement 7: The term Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is proposed to refer to cases of language disorder with no known differentiating condition (as defined in Statement 6).” Following the report of the CATALISE recommendations discussion ensued both nationally and internationally as to whether or not speech pathologists and indeed speech pathology associations should adopt the recommended terminology. The Speech Pathology Australia Board at their December meeting discussed the matter and as a first step has endorsed the adoption of the terms Language Disorder (LD) and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) in all future SPA publications and communications. Further discussions will follow, in conjunction with our international colleagues, on the next steps required to encourage widespread adoption of this terminology. This information, including ways in which members can support this process, will be reported in the April edition of Speak Out . Chris Lyons Senior Advisor, Professional Practice

Which term do you use to describe a child with expressive and/or receptive language difficulties that impact on their daily life? Do you use specific language impairment (SLI), language disorder, developmental language impairment, developmental language disorder, or something different? For years, speech pathologists, and others have debated how best to identify children with SLI and what is the most appropriate terminology to use. In the mid 2000s a group of educators, medicos and allied health professionals, led by Dorothy Bishop, initiated a campaign: Raising Awareness of Language Learning Impairment (RALLI) in response to the concern that children with SLI are often “invisible” (i.e., undiagnosed) and hence are unable to access the support they need. The group identified two main barriers to children with SLI accessing services: (1) the lack of appropriate criteria for identifying children who might benefit from specialist prevention and intervention services; and (2) the lack of consistent terminology to describe the difficulties the children were experiencing. It was proposed, as a matter of high priority, that a study be undertaken to determine if it was possible to achieve consensus among professionals with regards to these two issues. Recruitment of a group of international experts (the CATALISE consortium), including 6 Australians, from a range of disciplines involved in working with children with SLI commenced and a two- phase project developed: 1 – Identifying language impairments in children and, 2 – Terminology. In Phase 1 consensus was reached for 27 statements related to the identification and differential diagnosis of children with

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February 2017 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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