Adult People With Language Impairment and Their Life Situation

Abstract

Psychosocial outcome of language impairment (LI) was explored in interviews with three adults with LI (as children attended specialized boarding school) and four of their parents. The informants with LI expressed acceptance of LI and described themselves as independent. With driving education with adjusted pedagogy and initial governmental support, the informants with LI acquired driving licenses, developed work skills, and were paid salary by employers. Academic success was accredited to the specialized boarding school, though this limited development of social skills for social community participation. The adults with LI socialized nearly exclusively with family or peers with LI; described obvious angst for communicatively demanding situations, such as shopping in crowded stores; and described symptoms typical of attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder, social anxiety, and lower intellectual levels. Governmental support may facilitate accomplishment of life skill goals, increasing self-esteem in that realm. Negative social experiences, commonly without support outside family, reinforce behavioral trajectories toward further social isolation.

Social Confidence in Early Adulthood Among Young People With and Without a History of Language Impairment

“…For example, young adults with a history of early LI have significantly higher rates of mental health problems ( Beitchman et al, 2001 ; Conti-Ramsden & Botting, 2008 ; Law, Rush, Schoon, & Parsons, 2009 ; Schoon, Parsons, Rush, & Law, 2010 ). Difficulties in social adjustment and friendship maintenance are often reported in young adults with LI ( Clegg, Hollis, Mawhood, & Rutter, 2005 ; Törnqvist, Thulin, Segnestam, & Horowitz, 2009 ; Whitehouse, Watt, Line, & Bishop, 2009 ). Voci, Beitchman, Brownlie, and Wilson (2006) found that the incidence of social phobia (fear of interacting with others, speaking to small or large groups, and being observed) was more than twice as high in 19-year-olds with LI (who had been identified first at age 5 years) than in peers with typical language skills.…”

Communication and self‐esteem in adults with Down syndrome

“…Wadman et al (2008) reported that young adults with an SLI may be at risk of lower global self-esteem when compared with their peers. Individuals with an SLI also avoided communicatively demanding situations or times when they were required to speak to someone new, such as a cashier (Törnqvist et al 2009).…”

“…Individuals with an SLI also avoided communicatively demanding situations or times when they were required to speak to someone new, such as a cashier (Törnqvist et al . ).…”

Predicting Language Outcomes at 4 Years of Age: Findings From Early Language in Victoria Study

“…6 Adults report social isolation and anxiety, particularly regarding situations that are communicatively demanding. 7 A major challenge regards how and when best to intervene to reduce morbidity and to improve outcomes; this requires a much better understanding of the natural history of language delay than is currently available. As highlighted in a major 2006 US Preventive Services Task Force systematic review, 8 neither screening nor directly assessing the communication skills of very young children has proved particularly helpful at the population level, because of time requirements, costs, and poor sensitivity and specificity of existing language screens.…”