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Understanding Developmental Language Disorders

From Theory to Practice

• Edited by Courtenay Frazier Norbury, J. Bruce Tomblin, Dorothy V.M. Bishop

• Price: $44.95 $40.46
• Binding: Paperback (also available in Hardback)
• Pages: 248
• Published by: Psychology Press
• Publication Date: 1st July 2008 (Available for Pre-order)
• ISBN: 978-1-84169-667-6

About the Book

Developmental language disorders (DLD) occur when a child fails to develop his or her native language often for no apparent reason. Delayed development of speech and/or language is one of the most common reasons for parents of preschool children to seek the advice of their family doctor. Although some children rapidly improve, others have more persistent language difficulties. These long-term deficits can adversely affect academic progress, social relationships and mental well-being.

Although DLDs are common, we are still a long way from understanding what causes them and how best to intervene. Understanding Developmental Language Disorders summarises the recent research developments in genetics and neuroimaging studies, assessment techniques and treatment studies to provide an overview of all aspects of DLD. The book investigates the possible genetic and biological causes of the disorder, how best to assess children's language skills to identify when and where communication breakdown occurs, what the long-term outcomes are for children who grow up with DLD, overlaps between DLD and other childhood disorders such as dyslexia and autism and how best to treat children with the disorder. Each chapter is written by a leading authority in the field in a format accessible to researchers, clinicians and families alike.

This book, with its focus on both theory and practice, will be invaluable to students and researchers of speech-language pathology, psychology, psychiatry, linguistics and education. It will also be of interest to practicing speech-language pathologists, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, educational psychologists, and teachers and parents of children with developmental language disorders.

Reviews

‘This is a book that should be obligatory reading for everyone working in the field of developmental language disorders. There are contributions by many of the top experts in the field of DLD- from those involved in diagnostic and intervention research to those working in the field of genetics and imaging. Together the individual contributors and the 3 editors have produced a clearly written, tightly structured and comprehensive volume that should become a true classic.’ - Patricia Howlin, Professor of Clinical Child Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.

'This is a terrific text for anyone who is interested in developmental language disorder and reading disability. With contributions by renowned experts in the field, the text provides an interesting blend of basic research spanning behavioral, neuroimaging, and genetic investigations, along with a strong focus on evidence-based intervention.' - Susan Ellis-Weismer, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

'This volume provides researchers and clinicians concerned with language and literacy disorders in children with a unique resource. This rare assembly of rigorous scientific studies applied to both the underlying processes and the approaches to remediation of these problems renders the volume an invaluable addition to the libraries of investigators and clinicians alike.' - Rhea Paul, Ph.D., Prof., Yale Child Study Center, USA.

'This volume is almost certainly the best overview of the literature in the last twenty years and needs to be on the curriculum of neurologists, psychologists, speech and language therapists, linguistics, geneticists and all the other groups who truly want to understand DLD as it affects children across childhood and into adulthood.' - Professor James Law, Director, Centre for Integrated Healthcare Research, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

G. Baird, Assessment and Investigation of Children With Developmental Language Disorder. M. Vance, Short-term Memory in Children With Developmental Language Disorder. K. Nation, Using Eye-movements to Investigate Developmental Language Disorders. F. Dick, F. Richardson, M.C. Saccuman, Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to Investigate Developmental Language Disorders. D.V.M. Bishop, Specific Language Impairment (SLI), Dyslexia and Autism: Using Genetics to Unravel Their Relationship. D. Newbury, A. Monaco, The Application of Molecular Genetics to the Study of Developmental Language Disorder. J.B. Tomblin, Validating Diagnostic Standards for SLI Using Adolescent Outcomes. G. Conti-Ramsden, Heterogeneity of Specific Language Impairment in Adolescent Outcomes. J. Dockrell, G. Lindsay, Inclusion Versus Specialist Provision for Children With Developmental Language Disorders. S. Ebbels, Improving Grammatical Skill in Children With Specific Language Impairment. M.J. Snowling, C. Hulme, Reading Intervention For Children With Language Learning Difficulties. C. Adams, Intervention For Children With Pragmatic Language Impairments. M. Rutter, Diagnostic Concepts and Risk Processes.

About the Author(s)

Courtenay Frazier Norbury is a qualified speech-language pathologist and research psychologist. Her research has focused on the overlap between specific language impairments and autistic spectrum disorders. She was awarded the Neil O’Connor Award by the British Psychological Society for her published work on developmental language disorders, and currently holds an RCUK Research Fellowship in Cognitive Science at Royal Holloway, University of London.

J. Bruce Tomblin holds the D. C. Spriestersbach Distinguished Professorship in Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa. He is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and is a licensed speech-language pathologist by the State of Iowa. He currently receives several research grants from the U. S. National Institutes of Health concerned with the causes, course, and outcomes of developmental language disorders.

Dorothy V.M. Bishop is an internationally renowned expert on Development Language Disorders. She was awarded the BPS Annual Book Prize for Uncommon Understanding (published by Psychology Press) and recently received the esteemed Mid-Career Award from the Experimental Psychological Society of Great Britain. Her laboratory is based at the University of Oxford where she is a Principal Research Fellow funded by the Wellcome Trust.