{"id":8460,"date":"2022-06-29T12:06:28","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T11:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.devon.gov.uk\/supportforschools\/?page_id=8460"},"modified":"2026-02-25T09:25:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:25:29","slug":"developmental-language-disorder","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/send\/areas-of-need\/communication-and-interaction\/developmental-language-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"Developmental Language Disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is Developmental Language Disorder?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/send\/areas-of-need\/communication-and-interaction\/one-minute-guides\/developmental-language-disorder\/\">Developmental language disorder (DLD)<\/a> is a severe and persistent difficulty with understanding and or using language. DLD affects about 7% of pupils, meaning that in a typical classroom, two pupils will have DLD, but they may not yet have been identified. Pupils with DLD will need on-going support and adjustments to the delivery of the curriculum in order to achieve their potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As well as affecting pupils\u2019 ability to access the curriculum, DLD can also have an impact on making and maintaining relationships with others, and on self-esteem, mental health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Diagnosis of DLD is given by a speech and language therapist following a detailed assessment of their strengths and needs across six core areas; phonology; grammar; verbal learning and memory; semantics; word-finding skills and language use (pragmatics).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Further information about DLD and its impact on children and young people<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/radld.org\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Raising Awareness of DLD \u2013 information and video clips &#8211; RADLD website<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dldandme.co.uk\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Information and support for pupils who have been diagnosed with DLD &#8211; DLDandme website<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/devoncc.sharepoint.com\/:b:\/s\/PublicDocs\/Education\/EfWnB1uno4BCpM1M--HNF2ABpnmISFzNugQ74AzWh5MQ4g?e=PKV1ar\" rel=\"noopener\">Understanding the links between communication and behaviour &#8211; factsheet<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Lily Farrington&#039;s Amazing Developmental Language Disorder Animation\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/rwOfkj0dj_0?feature=oembed&#038;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Identification tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are concerned about a pupil\u2019s language skills, and think they may have DLD, these checklists are helpful, in addition to the Devon Graduated Response (DGR) tools, to pinpoint particular areas of need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/devoncc.sharepoint.com\/:b:\/s\/PublicDocs\/Education\/ESaOrzP9R6pMjW5H3RRDxW8BkGXg6zv2MaAmYoVEb9ZKcA?e=7HQbwL\" rel=\"noopener\">For primary pupils<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/devoncc.sharepoint.com\/:w:\/s\/PublicDocs\/Education\/ESYry-QoUcJDunzJ9NMcmSUBLs5iKzjeMDrUKt55vDXBIA?e=E57JrW\" rel=\"noopener\">For secondary pupils<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/send\/devon-graduated-response\/\">Devon graduated response tools<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are concerned that a pupil may have difficulties with understanding and using language, please refer to the relevant NHS Speech and Language Therapy service for assessment and advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/childrenandfamilyhealthdevon.nhs.uk\/slt\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Devon<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.torbayandsouthdevon.nhs.uk\/services\/speech-and-language-therapy\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Torbay<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livewellsouthwest.co.uk\/childrens-services\/speech-and-language\" rel=\"noopener\">Plymouth<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Application for support in exams from a Language Modifier can be considered for students with DLD, where it is having a significant impact on their ability to demonstrate their learning through exams.&nbsp;See the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jcq.org.uk\/exams-office\/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) guidance<\/a> for further information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is Developmental Language Disorder? Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a severe and persistent difficulty with understanding and or using language. DLD affects about 7% [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":981,"featured_media":0,"parent":6316,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-8460","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-20 01:21:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/981"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8460"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35799,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8460\/revisions\/35799"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}