Reading Skills of Individuals With Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)

Abstract

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a developmental disorder which cannot be attributed to any obvious nonverbal cognitive, social emotional or neurological deficits. While researchers have focused on the oral language of the DLD population, as this is mainly impaired, there is little research that has been conducted on the reading skills of this population which have also been documented impaired. Therefore, the aim of the present chapter is to present literature findings on the reading skills of individuals with DLD. More specifically, the current chapter focuses on research regarding reading comprehension and reading fluency, as well as reading decoding skills, reading fluency and reading accuracy of the DLD population. Moreover, the chapter includes longitudinal studies that have been conducted and highlights the importance of research in different languages in terms of transparency. The authors conclude with important limitations and useful suggestions for further research in the field.