Specific language impairment

The acquisition of language is one of the most important achievements in young children, in part because most children appear to acquire language with little effort. Some children are not so fortunate, however. There is a large group of children who also have difficulty learning language, but do not have obvious neurological, cognitive, sensory, emotional, or environmental deficits. Clinicians often refer to these children as language disordered or language impaired. Researchers tend to refer to these children as specific language impaired (SLI). Children with SLI have intrigued researchers for many years because there is no obvious reason for their language learning difficulties. SLI has been found to be an enduring condition that begins in early childhood and often persists into adolescence and adulthood. The language problems of children with SLI are not limited to spoken language; they also affect reading and writing and thus much of academic learning. Knowledge of the characteristics of SLI should aid physicians, pediatricians, and early childhood specialists to identify these children during the preschool years and ensure that they receive appropriate services. With high-quality language intervention and literacy instruction, most children with SLI should be able to perform and function adequately in school and beyond.