As the sun sets in Australia on International Day of People with disABILITY we wanted to pause one more time to draw attention to people with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and their unmet needs.

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Our families tell us they often hear "he'll grow out of it" or "you just need to read to them more often". This simplistic and inaccurate understanding of the impact of DLD across the lifespan is not helpful and needs to be addressed.

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Let's look at the evidence provided by researchers from around the world and compiled by RADLD - Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder shall we:

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DLD affects 7.5% of grade 1 children. Teachers, need to know about DLD, because there are two students with DLD in every classroom. In a class of 30, 2 children have DLD. 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙡., 2016

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DLD is 50 times more prevalent than hearing impairment and 5 times more prevalent than autism. 𝙈𝙘𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙤𝙧., 2020

People with DLD are 6 times more likely to have reading difficulties and 4 times more likely to struggle with math. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙡., 2002

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DLD commonly co-occurs with other neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD, Developmental Coordination Disorder, dyslexia, and dyscalculia. 𝘾𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙣 & 𝙆𝙞𝙧𝙗𝙮, 2018

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4 out of 5 children with identified emotional and behavioural problems may have unidentified DLD. 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤 𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙡., 2014; 𝘽𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙡., 200

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DLD is unidentified in many affected children. Children with DLD often do not receive specialised services to address the condition. 𝙏𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙡., 1997; 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙡., 2016

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DLD is a persistent problem but it may look different at different ages requiring different Ax tools sensitive to ongoing challenges. The core deficits in DLD change over the lifespan. Children do not grow out of DLD. They need support. 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙡., 2019

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People with DLD can succeed despite their language difficulties. Adults with DLD can achieve positive educational and employment outcomes. 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞-𝙍𝙖𝙢𝙨𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙡., 2017

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We hope people's views will change towards DLD when they are confronted by the facts of this hidden disABILITY.

#idpwd #growinclusion #dldseeme #devlangdis #dld #devlangdisorder #disability #ndia #ndis #ndispartners #ndisplanners

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