Considering Specific Language Impairment (SLI) When Assessing Specific Learning Disabilities

Speech and language skills are essential for academic success and learning, and children acquire these skills at various rates and ages. However, there are benchmarks for what is considered to be normal language acquisition, based on a child’s age and language development. Considering language is the basis of communication, it is foundational to reading, writing, listening, and speaking, but in the presence of impairment, it naturally affects the child’s ability to interact with others and learn. Likewise, children with language impairments may have difficulty understanding language, following directions, and choosing appropriate words to combine into comprehensive sentences.