Language Impaired or Learning Disabled: Same Children Labeled Differently or Different Children

Nickola Wolf Nelson, Ph.D., CCC‐SLP
Michele A. Anderson, Ph.D., CCC‐SLP
E. Brooks Applegate, Ph.D.
Western Michigan University

TILLS
Council for Exception Children
April 9, 2015
San Diego, CA

Acknowledgments/ Disclosure

• Many graduate students, colleagues, test administrators
• Nelson, N. W., Plante, E., Helm‐Estabrooks, N., & Hotz, G., (2015). Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills (TILLS). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing, Inc. (with potential royalties)
• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, and Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Special Education Research for TILLS research. (Grant R324A100354)
• Nelson, W. (2010). Language and Literacy Disorders: Infancy through Adolescence. MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Questions

• Relationships of language disorders and learning disabilities
  • Different children?
  • Same children labeled differently?
• Data from Mashburn & Myers (2010)
  • Any children with written language problems without co‐occurring oral problems?
  • Some of both?
  • What happens?
  • Do the young students no longer have disorders?
  • Do their language problems now involve reading and writing?

Two-Dimensional Quadrant Model

• Evidence for differences by language level (vocabulary & sentence use) but not receptive & expressive (Tomblin & Zhang, 2006)
• Two dimensions may explain relationship between dyslexia and specific language impairment (SLI)

Phonological Skills (Sound/Word Level)

• Perceiving and saying complex words
• Phonemic awareness

Nonphonological Skills

• Sentence and discourse (sentence/discourse level comprehension level)
• Sentence and discourse level formulation

Applying the Quadrant Model

• High listening comprehension & sentence formulation
• Low reading decoding & fluency & spelling
• Low in both
  • Word reading (real words), and/or
  • Word spelling (dictation and composing)
• Impaired accuracy and/or rate in lists or passage context
• Word decoding (pseudowords)

Exclusion Criteria for Family Genetics Studies of Dyslexia & Dysgraphia

• Normal range on cognitive and memory
• No preschool history of problems in oral language milestones or primary oral language disability
• Impaired accuracy and/or rate

Developmental Profile

• Preschool history of oral language delay
• Persisting oral and written language problems

Learning Profile

• Word level (vocabulary)
• Sentence level (sentence comprehension)
• Text level (factual and written composition)
• Impaired syntax, morphological coding, and retrieval

Evidence from a New Test

Language Levels X Modalities Model

Overview of Groups and TILLS Subtests

• Vocabulary Awareness
• Phonemic Awareness
• Story Retelling
• Nonword Repetition
• Nonword Spelling
• Listening Comprehension
• Reading Comprehension
• Following Directions

Groups for Analyses

1. Vocabulary Awareness
2. Phonemic Awareness
3. Story Retelling

Identifying Students with Language Disorders

• Differential Diagnosis: Different children based on true and detectable differences. Same children with different labels based on school districts.

References

• Bishop, D. V. M., & Snowling, M. J. (2004). Developmental dyslexia and specific language impairment: Same or different? Psychological Bulletin, 130(6), 858‐886.
• Catts, H. W., Adlof, S. M., Hogan, T. P. , & Ellis Weismer, S. (2005). Are specific language impairment and dyslexia distinct disorders? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 48(6), 1378‐1396.
• Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986). Decoding and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7, 6‐10.
• Stanovich, K. E. (1994). Annotation: Does dyslexia exist? The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 35(4), 579‐595.