Have you ever paused to consider the power of your son or daughter’s language skills? Language is the key to learning to communicate, read, write and do maths. Language skills have wide-ranging effects, impacting not only on your child’s health and capacity to lead a productive life, but also on your family’s wellbeing and Australia’s success and prosperity. That’s a pretty big influence!
Did you know that one in twenty (or five per cent) of Victorian children under 14 years have language impairment? Did you know that among four year olds, this can be up to one in five (20 per cent), around 50, 000 children – making language impairment as common as childhood obesity in this state? While childhood obesity has been a National Health Priority since 2007 and received much attention and significant funding, this has not been the case with language impairment due to poor understanding of its “costly, persistent and far-reaching consequences”.
Language impairment is due to a complex mix of genetic, neurological and environmental factors. Studies at the Centre of Research Excellence in Child Language at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne will investigate the influence of genetics in the next few years. However, we do know that early life experiences literally leave an imprint on a child’s brain, which is why interventions focus on environmental factors.
Language impairment is found in children of all socio-economic backgrounds, however is more common in vulnerable or disadvantaged communities. There are also higher rates among children who have a family member with a history of language or literacy difficulties and children who have other developmental impairments such as behavioural problems.
Our ability to make and keep friends, monitor our behaviour and navigate through new experiences depends on communication skills. Language impairment triples the likelihood of poor reading, spelling, and maths skills, meaning many individuals do not complete school and face limited job opportunities. As our blue collar, manual labour economy continues to shift towards a white collar economy with a focus on communication, language impairment presents an even bigger obstacle to participation in society.
The link between language impairment and antisocial behaviour is well known. Language impairment has a negative impact on an individual’s interactions, restricts the ability to take on another’s perspective and leads to a feeling of detachment from school. As in the US and UK, it is believed that about half of young male offenders within the juvenile justice system have a significant language impairment.
Financially, language impairment results in substantial costs over a lifetime. Families pay not only for therapy but also earn less over time because of limited employment stemming from poor educational achievements and/or related social conditions, including poor mental health. More broadly, consequences include greater loading on the welfare system, decreased productivity and revenue, lower social cohesion and more criminality.
Stay tuned for Part Two…
References:
https://www.mcri.edu.au/research/centres/centre-research-excellence-child-language
https://www.mcri.edu.au/sites/default/files/media/documents/crec_rs4_late-talkers-3_design_v0.1.pdf
https://www.mcri.edu.au/sites/default/files/media/documents/crecl_rs3_late-talking-2_design_v0.1_0.pdf
https://www.mcri.edu.au/sites/default/files/media/documents/crec_rs2_late-talkers-1_design_v0.1_0.pdf
Vince Borg and Vicky Andrews specialise in child speech development and language difficulty. Book an appointment with them at Box Hill Speech Pathology Clinic on (03) 9899 5494 or direct your child speech questions to enquiries@speech-therapy.com.au.
By Nicola Anglin
(Speech Pathologist)
Nicola, I could not have said it better myself. Over the years, I have seen so many older school aged children struggling with literacy which on closer examination I find they are having significant language and communication difficulties. These language problems seem to fly under the radar and are not easily detected.
We know, overwhelmingly, very early identification and treatment of children with language and communication difficulties significantly reduces the risk of ongoing speech, language, social, emotional and behavioural problems that you correctly identified in your article. Language impairment as prevalent as childhood obesity? I believe it!