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

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

### Conference
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). Boston, Language and Allyn Literacy Disorders: Infancy through Adolescence MA: & Bacon.

### Questions
- Relationships of language disorders and learning disabilities
- Different children?
- Same children labeled differently?

### Data from Mashburn & Myers (2010)
#### Questions re shifts in proportions
- 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? Overlaps?

Mashburn, A. J., & Myers, S. S. (2010). Advancing research on children with speech‐language impairment: An introduction to the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort. LSHSS, 41, 61‐69.

- Different students, newly classified? Some of both?

#### Relationships
- Thinking
- Writing
- Reading
- Speaking
- Listening

### 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)

### Phonological Skills
- Perceiving and saying complex words
- Phonemic awareness
- Reading
- Spelling decoding

### Nonphonological Skills
- Sentence and discourse comprehension level
- Sentence and discourse level formulation

(Bishop & Snowling, 2004; Catts, Adlof, Hogan, & Weismer, 2005)

### Applying the Quadrant Model
- High listening comprehension, sentence formulation
- Low reading decoding, fluency & spelling
- Low in both: word reading (real words), impaired accuracy and/or rate in lists or passage context, word decoding (pseudowords)

### Family Genetics Studies of Dyslexia & Dysgraphia
- Exclusion criteria: Normal range on cognition and memory, no preschool history of problems in oral language milestones or primary oral language disability
- Dyslexia: First signs in Kdg or 1st grade, naming letters, associating sounds with them

Silliman, E. R., & Berninger, V. W. (2011). Cross‐disciplinary dialogue about the nature of oral and written language problems in the context of developmental, academic, and phenotypic profiles. Topics in Language Disorders, 31(1), 6‐23.

### Learning Profile
- Impaired phonological loop
- Impaired accuracy in reading and spelling

### Developmental Profile
- Preschool history of oral language delay, persisting oral and written language problems
- Specific language learning profile

### Evidence from a New Test

| Modality | Language Level         |             |
|----------|-----------------------|-------------|
| Listening | 1. Vocabulary Awareness (VA) 2. Phonemic Awareness (PA) | 6. Listening Comprehension (LC) 8. Following directions (FD) |
| Speaking  | 4. Nonword Repetition (NWRep)  | 3. Story retelling (Comp Qs) (SRcomp) 13. Social communication (SC) |
| Reading   | 10. Nonword Reading (NWRd) 11. Reading Fluency (RF) | 7. Reading comprehension (RC) |
| Writing   | 5. Nonword Spelling (NWSp) 12c. Written Exp - word score (WEwd) | 12a. Written Exp discourse score (Wedisc) 12b. Written Exp sentence combining score (WEscs) |
| Memory    | 14. Digit Span Forward (DSF) 15. Digit Span Backward (DSB) | 9. Delayed story retelling (DSR) |

### Overview of Groups and TILLS Subtests
1. Vocabulary Awareness  
   - Dog, cat, bone: Both animals/pets (not dogs chase cats)
   - Light, sun, feather: Sun gives light/both bright

2. Phonemic Awareness  
- Example of removing sounds to form new words.

3. Story Retelling  
- Instructions to retell an age-appropriate story.

4. Nonword Repetition  
- Sample format of nonword repetition tasks.

5. Nonword Spelling  
- Instructions to spell nonword prompts.

6. Listening Comprehension  
- Directions to listen and respond to stories.

7. Reading Comprehension  
- Tasks involving comprehension of assigned texts.

### Comments
- Are there different profiles?
- Importance of individual differences?

### References
- Finley, B. L. (2005). Rethinking developmental neurobiology. In M. Tomasello & D. I. Slobin (Eds.), Beyond nature‐nurture: Essays in honor of Elizabeth Bates (pp. 195‐218). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Fisher, S. A. (2006). Tangled webs: Tracing the connections between genes and cognition. Cognition, 101, 270‐297.
- Meng, H., Smith, S. D., Hager…., & Gruen, J. R. (2005). DCDC2 is associated with reading disability and modulates neuronal development in the brain. PNAS, 102(47), 17053‐17058.
- Various studies providing insight into speech and language disorders.