The little-known language impairment SLI could have a greater impact on sufferers than dyslexia, new research has found.
Specific Language Impairment, or SLI, affects up to six per cent of UK school children.
Sufferers experience difficulties with many aspects of language including grammar, vocabulary and literacy, as well as short-term memory.
According to research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, they also have problems with higher order thinking skills.
Researchers have said that SLI may have a greater impact on these children than the better known disorder, dyslexia, and have called for awareness to be raised around the condition.
SLI and dyslexia are similar in that both involve a “specific" disability that is believed to affect one aspect of a child's ability to deal with information.
For dyslexia this aspect is reading but for SLI it is language, meaning there are a number of potential knock-on affects.
Professor Lucy Henry, director at the Centre for Research in Psychology at London South Bank University, which carried out the research, said: “SLI is often diagnosed when it is noticed that a child's speech is poorer than his or her other abilities. The speech difficulties can involve grammar, a small vocabulary or other aspects of language. In addition, because language is important for reading, around half of children identified with SLI also have difficulties with reading."
To read the full report, visit www.esrc.ac.uk/my-esrc/grants/RES-062-23-0535/read/reports