About this Research Topic
Persons with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) show a persistent language delay not resolved at age five impacting everyday life communication and/or learning in the absence of a medical condition (such as brain injury, genetic conditions or chromosome disorders, hearing loss, autism spectrum disorders or intellectual disability). But DLD not only affects a person’s communication in everyday life but also affects areas such as social skills, emotional development, leadership, adaptive skills, and academic performance which in turn can severely affect their quality of life.
Additionally, some studies have pointed out that socio-emotional variables and academic abilities could be risk factors for DLD or offer protection against the impact of DLD. Therefore, the interaction between socio-emotional and educational variables in DLD needs to be further explored in order to disentangle those variables that are risk factors, those that could be protective factors, and those that are consequences of DLD.
While there is a genetic substrate for language disorders, we must not forget that the environment can protect against this biological predisposition, which requires expanding language interventions of children with DLD considering social and environmental factors. In this sense, social variables have a very important impact on language acquisition and development, at various levels. In fact, these variables can be fed back into each other to produce a circle of mutual influence. Thus, social, economic, family, and/or cultural difficulties are associated with variability in the quality and amount of linguistic inputs that contribute to language difficulties. These language difficulties affect children’s acquisition of social and emotional skills, their self-esteem and the quality of their social relationships, increasing risk to social, cultural, family, and economic disadvantage.
Although it is not easy to intervene because each family has its own idiosyncrasies, and professionals will not always be able to change the circumstances surrounding a given case, it will be important to put efforts into bringing support and resources to families that need it. It should be noted that while we have treated these aspects as risk factors, many of them can become protective factors if they are set up correctly or worked on properly.
The present Research Topic aims to explore the reciprocal and interconnected relationships between social, emotional, or educational variables in children, adolescents, and adults with DLD. This Research Topic is open to any research addressing the perspective of child, adolescent, and adults from a psychological and/or educational point of view that includes theoretical, or empirical studies on the social, emotional, and educational variables in DLD or addresses interventions which aim to lessen the impacts of DLD.
Additionally, some studies have pointed out that socio-emotional variables and academic abilities could be risk factors for DLD or offer protection against the impact of DLD. Therefore, the interaction between socio-emotional and educational variables in DLD needs to be further explored in order to disentangle those variables that are risk factors, those that could be protective factors, and those that are consequences of DLD.
While there is a genetic substrate for language disorders, we must not forget that the environment can protect against this biological predisposition, which requires expanding language interventions of children with DLD considering social and environmental factors. In this sense, social variables have a very important impact on language acquisition and development, at various levels. In fact, these variables can be fed back into each other to produce a circle of mutual influence. Thus, social, economic, family, and/or cultural difficulties are associated with variability in the quality and amount of linguistic inputs that contribute to language difficulties. These language difficulties affect children’s acquisition of social and emotional skills, their self-esteem and the quality of their social relationships, increasing risk to social, cultural, family, and economic disadvantage.
Although it is not easy to intervene because each family has its own idiosyncrasies, and professionals will not always be able to change the circumstances surrounding a given case, it will be important to put efforts into bringing support and resources to families that need it. It should be noted that while we have treated these aspects as risk factors, many of them can become protective factors if they are set up correctly or worked on properly.
The present Research Topic aims to explore the reciprocal and interconnected relationships between social, emotional, or educational variables in children, adolescents, and adults with DLD. This Research Topic is open to any research addressing the perspective of child, adolescent, and adults from a psychological and/or educational point of view that includes theoretical, or empirical studies on the social, emotional, and educational variables in DLD or addresses interventions which aim to lessen the impacts of DLD.
Keywords: Developmenal Language Disorders, Social Development, Language Development, Education, Emotional Development, DLD
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