Developmental language disorder: Impacts on literacy and life beyond school (with Dr. Karla McGregor)

Students who meet the criteria for developmental language disorder (DLD) are often categorized as “speech only” in the school systems. 

In many cases, these students qualify for special education services under the eligibility category of “speech and language impaired”, which puts speech-language pathologists who serve as case managers in a difficult position ethically. 

Sometimes students may qualify for services under other eligibility categories, but there’s still a lack of awareness about the diagnosis; especially relating to how we serve students in schools. 

The impact on literacy and overall academic performance can be substantial; not to mention life outcomes outside of school. 

Unlike other diagnoses that have other pathways to diagnosis in the early years, signs of DLD are often not identified until students start school. 

Therefore, DLD is an essential part of conversations surrounding literacy (even though it can impact way more than just reading). 

That’s why I invited Dr. Karla McGregor to episode 181 of De Facto Leaders to talk about DLD as part of the National Literacy Month RIF series. 

Dr. Karla K. McGregor, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a Senior Scientist at Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, NE, USA, where she also serves as the Senior Director of the Center for Childhood Deafness, Language and Learning. She is a Professor Emerita at the University of Iowa and a founding member and Chair of DLDandMe.org. Dr. McGregor’s scholarly work on developmental language disorder is funded by the National Institutes of Health and she has also benefited from the support of the National Science Foundation and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She is the former Editor for the Journal of Speech-Language-Hearing Research. Her awards include Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Kawana Award for Lifetime Achievement in Publishing. She has been fortunate to mentor 12 doctoral students, six post-doctoral scholars, and numerous early-career scientists.

This episode is part of the National Literacy Month series of podcasts, presented in partnership between the Be Podcast Network and Reading Is Fundamental (RIF).

In this episode, we discuss:

✅Developmental language disorder: Characteristics and overlaps with conditions like ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and auditory processing disorder.

✅School teams are “permitted” to use the term “DLD” in the schools. What does that mean in practice?

✅How language disorders impact important life skills such as the driver’s test or understanding your Miranda rights. 

✅Universal screeners: Reading screeners are an opportunity to identify DLD, but will they catch every child who needs services?

You can learn more about Dr. McGregor’s work in DLD advocacy along with her colleagues here: https://dldandme.org/

Learn more about her scholarly work on her Wix site here: https://karlamcgregor.wixsite.com/my-work

Connect with her via email at Karla.McGregor@boystown.org

Dr. McGregor mentioned this article she wrote with Dr. Tiffany Hogan for Reading Rockets: