New research suggests speech-language pathologists (SLPs) should treat children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and children with both DLD and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in similar ways: with evidence-based language therapy that includes social participation goals.
The big picture
Millions of children are affected by DLD and ADHD. Both are chronic neurodevelopmental conditions that increase risks of poor school and social outcomes. They commonly co-occur. But the relationships between them are messy and not yet understood.
Zoom in
- Children with DLD – with or without ADHD – usually present with significant difficulties on a range of language tasks, including with recalling sentences, non-word repetition, tense-marking, narrative comprehension and production, and using language for social purposes (i.e. pragmatic language).
- Researchers compared groups of children with DLD and DLD+ADHD and found that there were no significant differences between the groups on key language measures. ADHD may not significantly increase the language challenges caused by DLD, at least on the skills measured.
Why it matters
SLPs need to know whether to treat children with DLD+ADHD differently from children with DLD only and, if so, how. This study suggests we don’t need to differentiate our treatments by diagnostic category. BUT we always need to tailor interventions to the functional language needs of the child in front of us, regardless of label(s)!
Go deeper
The study compares other groups too, including neurotypical children and children with ADHD but without DLD. The study is fascinating and complex, with some counterintuitive results! Read it here:
Redmond SM, Ash AC, Li H, & Zhang Y. (2024). Links Among Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Psycholinguistic Abilities Are Different for Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2024 Jul 9:1-20. doi: 10.1044/2024_AJSLP-23-00388. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38980144.
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