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NCSE Resource- Visual Supports within an Inclusive Learning Environment

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NCSE Resource- Visual Supports within an Inclusive Learning Environment

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NCSE Resource- Visual Supports within an Inclusive Learning Environment as Gaeilge

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NCSE Resource- Visual Supports within an Inclusive Learning Environment as Gaeilge

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Video: Young Person with DLD - Karl Reddy

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Video: Young Person with DLD - Karl Reddy

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'In My Own Words' - Karl Reddy's story | Looking for some motivation this Monday? Watch this inspiring story, 'In My Own Words' by St Colmcilles Community School student Karl Reddy (15) who... | By GAA | Facebook

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32K views, 1K likes, 12 loves, 44 comments, 279 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from GAA: Looking for some motivation this Monday? Watch this inspiring story, 'In My Own Words' by St Colmcilles...

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Video: Supporting Speech, Language and Communication Needs in the Primary Classroom

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Video: Supporting Speech, Language and Communication Needs in the Primary Classroom

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Irish Podcast: 2 Young People Discuss their Experiences with DLD

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Irish Podcast: 2 Young People Discuss their Experiences with DLD

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Listen to this episode from Someone Like Me on Spotify. Robert is in first year and has DLD which is a developmental language disorder. He chats to Karl Reddy a carpenter, Ballyboden hurler, and fellow DLD ambassador.

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Video: 2 minute clip explained by an individual with DLD 

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Video: 2 minute clip explained by an individual with DLD 

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Lily Farrington's Amazing Developmental Language Disorder Animation

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Supporting Developmental Language Disorders in the Classroom

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Irish Podcast: A Parent's Experience of DLD

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Irish Podcast: A Parent's Experience of DLD

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Listen to this episode from IASLT Podcast: DLD See Me on Spotify. Julie Sweeney discusses her experience as a parent of a child with DLD

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Welcome to RADLD.ORG, created to Raise Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder or 'DLD'. Here you will learn more about DLD, access resources and find out how to raise awareness.

SAVE THE DATE | DLD Day #dldday

Friday 18 October 2024

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR SUPPORTING The 2023 DLD Day theme is 'DLD Around the World'.

Please share our website with family, friends and professionals. Our website is constantly growing, so please check in regularly. Send us your ideas or links to your own resources or activities about DLD to hello@radld.org.

DLD AROUND THE WORLD

Click on a highlighted country to see our international committee pages:

Meet RADLD Spokesperson Marie-Soleil Labelle "Sunny"

Hear about Growing with DLD from our RADLD Spokesperson Race Car Driver Marie-Soleil Labelle "Sunny".

The 2023 Dorothy Bishop lecture

Join RADLD for our annual Dorothy Bishop lecture in the lead up to #DLDday 2023 presented by Prof. Elizabeth Peña!

Learn more about RADLD

Learn more about DLD

How well do you know Developmental Language Disorder? Take our short quiz to test your knowledge.

More information

Here we share resources to help build your knowledge of this hidden but common condition.

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SAVE THE DATE | #DLDDAY 2024 FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER 2024 Developmental Language Disorder is a hidden but common disability that affects 1 in 14 people causing difficulties understanding and using language for no known reason. The 2024 DLDday theme will be announced in the coming months. Please contact the RADLD...

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Developmental Language Disorder

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is the new term to replace Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Developmental Language Disorder is diagnosed when children fail to acquire their own language for no obvious reason. This results in children who have difficulty understanding what people say to them, and struggle to articulate their ideas and feelings. Recent research has shown that, on average,...

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Newsroom

Race car driver Marie-Soleil Labelle races to raise awareness of DLD/TDL as RADLD's first official Spokesperson Quebec (CA) Race car driver and bilingual French-English speaker, Marie-Soleil Labelle is known affectionately as 'Sunny'. RADLD is excited to announce that Sunny has joined us as our first official spokesperson. Sunny has...

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Amelia, a 9-Year-Old UK school girl and RADLD Ambassador, is living her best life. With support, she continues to reach her goals despite being diagnosed with an 'invisible' communication disability affecting 2 students in every class of 30. Amelia loves to be busy! She plays the cornet, enjoys dance,...

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Marie-Soleil Labelle is a young racing car driver from Quebec. Marie-Soleil has Developmental Language Disorder. What an inspiration! This video is in French, but you can add auto-subtitles if French is not your language. Thank you Marie-Soleil for sharing your story with RADLD.

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Get involved

RADLD is a movement of passionate academics, researchers, health professionals, educators and families from around the world committed to raising awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).
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RADLD - Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder - RADLD

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Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (RADLD) is the international advocacy for people with Developmental Language Disorder.

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How well do you know Developmental Language Disorder? Take our short quiz to test your knowledge.

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Activities for Raising Student's Awareness of Language and Communication

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Activities for Raising Student's Awareness of Language and Communication

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Activities for Raising Student's Awareness of Language and Communication

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Poster: Typical Language and Communication Development at Primary Level

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Poster: Typical Language and Communication Development at Primary Level

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Poster: Typical Language and Communication Development at Post Primary Level

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Poster: Typical Language and Communication Development at Post Primary Level

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Supporting students across the three tiered model of support (UK)

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Supporting students across the three tiered model of support (UK)

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SLCN & DLD SLCNSpeech, Language and Communication Needs EventsThere are many ways that you can help to raise funds Afasic Helpline

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Supporting AAC users to Keep in Touch

A resource prepared by NCSE SLTs to support home learning for students who use AAC devices.

Apps and Websites with Language Games and Activities

This document gives an overview of online resources, games and apps that teachers might like to reference when designing materials to share with parents. This is designed to support teachers of students with students with Speech Language and Communication Needs.

Top tips for children in 5th and 6th Class

A resource covering ideas for Play, Literacy, Attention and Listening

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Resources for teachers on 'Speech, Language and Communication'

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Supporting AAC users to Keep in Touch A resource prepared by NCSE SLTs to support home learning for students who use AAC devices. Apps and Websites with Language Games and Activities This document gives an overview of online resources, games and apps that teachers might like to reference when designing materials to share with parents.

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Poster: Supporting communication in people with DLD across the lifespan 

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Poster: Supporting communication in people with DLD across the lifespan 

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Booklet: Supporting students with DLD in school 

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Booklet: Supporting students with DLD in school 

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An overview of Developmental Language Disorder with teacher strategies, links to videos, websites and other resources.
Created as part of the 2020 International

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Article: Supporting a Child with DLD in the Classroom 

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Article: Supporting a Child with DLD in the Classroom 

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Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) benefit from individualized intervention. Read more about individualized intervention for children with DLD here.

Another way to help children with DLD is by providing support right in the classroom, which is where they spend a lot of their time! The classroom is full of language. The teacher gives verbal instructions, classmates engage in discussion, and children often present their work by talking about it. And it's not just in 'language arts' that language is used. Language demands go across the whole curriculum. Subjects like math, science, and social studies all require understanding of specialized vocabulary, and engagement with complex concepts. Whether the classroom is virtual or in person, the language of the classroom can be very challenging for a child with DLD. So how do we help?

Make the Language of Instruction More Accessible

We can help children with DLD understand class instructions by using a few simple techniques:

1. Face the child - When you look at the child, your speech signal is clearer, you give added signals with your body movements, and you convey the importance of your words.

2. Make clear, explicit statements - Instead of, 'You need to be ready for your next class', say, 'Class is over. Put away your books and line up at the door for your next class.'

3. Repeat and rephrase key instructions - The teacher knows best what instructions need to be given. Go ahead and give the full instructions so everyone in the class can work at their pace. But plan to go back and repeat each step of the instructions in short, simple sentences. These repetitions will help the child with DLD understand and retain the steps in the task.

4. Use multimodal supports - Use lots of different ways to convey messages in the classroom, not just talking. Use gestures and visual supports like pictures, graphic organizers, visual planners, charts, and posters. Write down key words too.

Don't forget that in later school grades, class activities often involve written instruction. Written language tends to have more complex words and sentences, so it can be even more challenging for children with DLD. Here are some ways you can make written language tasks more accessible for a child with DLD:

1. Breakdown larger amounts of information - Just looking at a big paragraph of words can be disheartening for a child with DLD. Breaking down the information into shorter paragraphs, using point form, and adding extra white space can make it more accessible.

2. Use visually distinct sections - Organizing the page so that separate instructions, steps, themes, or activities are clearly set apart from each other can help the child with DLD manage the task in smaller steps.

3. Use graphics and icons - A picture that is directly related to the task at hand can act as an important cue to what the words on the page are about.

4. Provide key word definitions - Children with DLD need many repetitions to learn a new word, and they may still struggle when the new word is part of a challenging language task. Provide a list of key words and their definitions in a consistent manner across tasks. That way, the child with DLD can quickly remind themselves of the meaning of important words and continue with the task.

5. Have questions and text on the same page - Very (very) often, children with DLD will need to go back and look at the question as they try to complete a task. Having the question right on the same page means fewer steps for the child with DLD. Fewer steps means the task is less burdensome, and the child with DLD can concentrate more on the language and learning required.

Supporting the Child with DLD's Communication Participation

It can be challenging to help children with DLD use and develop their talking skills in a busy classroom. Here are a few strategies:

1. Talking with classmates - Allow opportunities for children in the class to spend time talking to each other. Create chances for children with and without DLD to talk to one another. Research shows that the child with DLD will show language growth, and that there will be no negative effects for the child without DLD.

2. Explicitly teach conversational tools - Set up classroom rules or strategies for how students can engage in classroom discussion. These 'talk moves' provide sentence starters that can help a child join in. For example, the 'add on' talk move begins with the starter, 'I'd like to add on something...'.

3. Explicitly teach language structures - Children, like everyone, need to be able to tell a story. Research shows that children tell better stories when they learn about the parts of a story (e.g., that a story has characters, a setting, a problem, a consequence, etc.), and that this teaching can be done effectively in the classroom.

4. Don't forget: allow alternate responses - Keep in mind that listening and talking all day long is exhausting for a child with DLD. Make sure the child with DLD has other ways of showing their learning. For example, they could draw a picture or map out their knowledge.

Educators and Speech-Language Pathologists Working Together

It's important to note that children with DLD need many repetitions, opportunities to practice, and consistent, well-planned instructions to make positive changes in their language. In a busy classroom, it is difficult for one teacher to be able to provide the focused practice a child with DLD needs to progress. That's why educators and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) team up in the classroom. Through co-teaching, educators and SLPs can create a rich language and literacy learning environment with positive effects on children with DLD and other children struggling with language too. When SLPs provide intervention to the whole class or small groups in the classroom, it is often called 'push in' services. Research shows that push in services have had positive effects on children with DLD's vocabulary and story-telling skills, as well as the ability to recognize and manipulate the parts of spoken words and sentences known as phonological awareness, an important skill for learning to read. For making gains on specific, individualized language structures such as grammar, however, it seems that individualized intervention is needed.

Much of school learning is based on language - on the ability to understand and participate in both spoken and written forms. By providing language supports to the child with DLD in the classroom, we can maximize the child's ability to access important learning opportunities.

References

Archibald, L.M.D. (2017). SLP-educator classroom collaboration; A review to inform reason-based practice. Autism & Developmental Language Impairments, 2, 1-17.

Chapin, S. H., O'Connor, M. C., Anderson, N. C., & Chapin, S. H. (2013). Classroom Discussions in Math: A Teachers Guide for Using Talk Moves to Support the Common Core and More, Grades K-6. Sausalito, CA, USA: Math Solutions.

Justice, L.M., Petscher, Y., Schatschneider, C., & Mashburng, A. (2011). Peer effects in preschool classrooms: Is children's language growth associated with their classmates' skills? Child Development, 82, 1768-1777.

Ukrainetz, T.A. (2019). Sketch and speak: An expository intervention using note-taking and oral practice for children with language-related learning disabilities. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 50, 53-70.

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Supporting a Child with DLD in the Classroom

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Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) benefit from individualized intervention. Read more about individualized intervention for children with DLD here. Another way to help children with DLD is by providing support right in the classroom, which is where they spend a lot of their time! The classroom is full of language.

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Sharing inclusive stories for Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs

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Interview between first year student Robert with Karl Reddy, both of whom have DLD

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Robert is in first year and has DLD which is a developmental language disorder. He chats to Karl Reddy a carpenter, Ballyboden hurler, and fellow DLD ambassador.

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Listen to this episode from Classroom adjustments on Spotify. In this podcast, learn more about Developmental Language Disorder. A student, parent, teacher and an expert discuss adjustments that can be made to support students in the classroom.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Communication section has useful information. Universal Design for Learning. Communication Profiling Checklist tool.

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Poster for self monitoring of understanding

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Poster for self monitoring of understanding