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This study presents a scoping review of available literature from 1991 to 2022 focused on the presentation of written language abilities of individuals with developmental language disorder (DLD) from early childhood to adulthood. Seventy-four studies in this span were identified as examining written language skills in children, adolescents, and adults with DLD. Results of this review suggest that spelling is an area of relative weakness for individuals with DLD across the lifespan. Children and adolescents with DLD may have weaknesses in grammar, cohesion, and length of writing samples. Notably, adults with DLD are significantly understudied, with research to date focusing primarily on spelling abilities. The body of research on written language abilities is limited, and several knowledge gaps were identified that must be addressed to bolster speech-language pathologists’ and educators’ ability to provide evidence-based support to individuals with DLD who struggle with writing. Furthermore, only two studies in this review focused on typed writing, highlighting a significant gap in our understanding of potential differences between typed and handwritten texts.
Funding Source: None. |
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