Language and independence in adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment (SLI)
Gina Conti-Ramsden1, Kevin Durkin
1Human Communication and Deafness, School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Manchester, Ellen Wilkinson Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom. gina.conti-ramsden@manchester.ac.uk
Purpose:
Achieving behavioral independence is a key task of adolescent development. This 1 article of a companion set of 2 (the 2nd addressing the topic of parental perspectives) presents an investigation of the impact of language ability on independence.
Method:
Longitudinal and follow-up data from 120 adolescents with a history of specific language impairment (SLI), as well as concurrent data on a comparison group of 118 typically developing (TD) young people, are reported. Parental and self-report measures were used to examine independent functioning related to everyday living at the end of compulsory education (16 years of age).
Results:
Adolescents with SLI are less independent than their TD peers, and level of independence is associated with poor early language and poor later literacy skills.
Conclusion:
Language and literacy play a larger role in adolescent independent functioning than nonverbal abilities in both TD adolescents and adolescents with SLI.
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