DLD and Language Delay

DLD stands for Developmental Language Disorder and is the diagnosis given by speech and language therapists when a child has a persistent language disorder with a functional impact without a known biomedical condition. Language disorder in association with X is the diagnosis given when a child has a co-occurring biomedical condition e.g., Autism Spectrum Disorder.

A language delay indicates that a child may be presenting with language difficulties (receptive or expressive) that are developing at a slower rate than their peers. Most children with a language delay usually catch up with their peers once starting school, however if difficulties continue to persist, it may be that there is an underlying difficulty e.g., DLD, Dyslexia, learning difficulty etc. 

Parents, carers, school staff and other professionals with concerns about their child's speech, language and communication development should get in touch with their local NHS Speech and Language Therapy service or if preferred independent Speech and Language Therapist using the ASTLIP website (https://asltip.com).

For more information about DLD please visit: https://radld.org/ - Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder