SRCLD Presentation Details
  Title  
       
    Adult outcomes for children identified with developmental language difficulties at five years: literacy, mental health and employment  
Author(s)
James Law - Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh UK
Robert Rush - Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh UK
Ingrid Schoon - Institute of Education, London UK
Sam Parsons - Institute of Education, London UK

SRCLD Info
SRCLD Year: 2009
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Poster Number:
Presentation Time: (na)
Categories
- Cognition/Language
- Developmental Disabilities
- Literacy
Abstract
Understanding the long term outcomes of developmental language difficulties is key to knowing what significance to attach to them. Most follow-up studies are clinical in nature, making it difficult to generalise results to the whole population. This paper uses data from a UK birth cohort of over 11,000 children followed between 5 and 34 years. Three groups were identified using a vocabulary and copying test at 5 years: those with typically developing skills, those with Specific Language Impairment and those with Non-Specific Language Impairment. Results indicated an association with demographic factors at 5 years Both N-SLI and SLI status predicted adult literacy status but not, in the case of SLI, once demographic factors were accounted for. N-SLI at 5 predicted both mental health and poor employment but the same was not true of SLI. The results will be discussed in terms of the measures adopted and their implications for both policy and practice.
Funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council