“I’m a man of few words”: Children's perspectives on living with developmental language disorder

Abstract

The individual narratives, insights and voices of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) are often underrepresented in research and clinical SLT (speech–language–hearing therapy) practice although their perspectives are crucial in understanding the implications of their language and communication difficulties. This qualitative study investigates the everyday experiences of children with DLD by exploring how they perceive and describe their language and communication difficulties in their daily lives in relation to school and social interaction. Nine children, aged between 8 years 1 month and 13 years 11 months, participated in semi-structured interviews. Talking Mats^© was employed to structure the interviews. The data was analysed using reflective thematic analysis, which revealed the following four themes: (1) academic challenges: navigating reading, writing, maths and beyond; (2) friendships and a sense of not belonging; (3) insight into their own language impairments; (4) experiencing their own strengths, competences and interests. Overall, the findings highlight noteworthy academic and social challenges, e.g., how they are preoccupied with their language and communication difficulties in the individual school subjects, while at the same time feeling the emotional consequences such as the fear of speaking in front of others or standing out.