Courtenay Norbury|George Vamvakas|Debbie Gooch|Gillian Baird|Tony Charman|Emily Simonoff|Andrew Pickles
Language growth in children with heterogeneous language disorders: a population study
University College London|Royal Holloway University of London|King's College London|University College London|Royal Holloway University of London|Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust|King's College London|King's College London|King's College London
background language development characterised significant individual stability school entry however extent trajectories language growth vary children language disorder function cooccurring developmental challenges question theoretical import implications service provision methods scales employed populationbased survey design sample weighting procedures estimate growth core language skills first three years school stratified sample n 529 received comprehensive assessment language nonverbal iq social emotional behavioural difficulties 56 years age 95 sample n 499 assessed ages 78 language growth measured using raw standard scores children typical development children language disorder unknown origin children language disorders associated known clinical condition andor intellectual disability results overall language stable individual level estimated icc 095 first three years school linear mixed effects models highlighted steady growth language raw scores across three groups including multiple developmental challenges little evidence however children language disorders narrowing gap peers z scores adjusted models indicated nonverbal ability socioeconomic status social emotional behavioural deficits predicted initial language score intercept none predicted language growth slope conclusions findings corroborate previous studies suggesting stable language trajectories ages 56 years add considerably previous work demonstrating similar developmental patterns children additional nonverbal cognitive deficits social emotional behavioural challenges social disadvantage clinical diagnoses