Donald G. Doehring Memorial Lecture - 2020

A talk by :

Dr. Lisa Archibald, PhD
Associate Professor
School of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Western University

The multiplicity of cognitive paths and learning outcomes in development

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) refers to a difficulty learning language that impacts social and educational outcomes. Consistent identification of DLD has the potential to facilitate understanding and improve outcomes. Identification of DLD can be challenging, however, because there is no clear cut point between normal and disordered language. Typical and atypical language development forms a continuum, which means that the low end of the distribution is part of the normal variation of development. Importantly, then, studies of individual differences across skill distribution has the potential to inform understanding of children with disorders. The presentation will summarize work examining cognitive and linguistic mechanisms underlying language and learning abilities and disabilities in children and adults. Consistent with a developmental perspective, overlap across learning profiles and common predictors of school outcomes characterize large developmental groups. Both experimental and practice-based approaches to meeting the needs of children with or at-risk of DLD will be presented.