ERIC Number: EJ1178280
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1368-2822
EISSN: N/A
Family Aggregation of Language Impairment in an Isolated Chilean Population from Robinson Crusoe Island
De Barbieri, Zulema; Fernández, María Angélica; Newbury, Dianne F.; Villanueva, Pía
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, v53 n3 p643-655 May-Jun 2018
Background: It has been reported that the inhabitants of the Chilean Robinson Crusoe Island have an increased frequency of specific language impairment (SLI) or developmental language disorder (DLD). Aims: To explore the familial aggregation of DLD in this community. Methods & Procedures: We assessed the frequency of DLD amongst colonial children between the ages of 3 and 8;11 years (50 individuals from 45 nuclear families). Familial aggregation rates of language disorder were calculated by assessing all available first-degree relatives (n = 107, 77 parents, 25 siblings, five half-siblings) of the probands. Outcomes & Results: We found that 71% of the child population performed significantly below expected in measures of phonological production or expressive and receptive morphology. The majority of these children presented with severe expressive and/or receptive language difficulties. One-quarter of language-disordered probands primarily had phonological difficulties. Family members of affected probands experienced a higher risk of language disorder than those of typically developing probands. This increased risk was apparent regardless of non-verbal IQ. Conclusions & Implications: The study substantiates the existence of a familial form of speech and language disorder on Robinson Crusoe Island. Furthermore, we find that the familiarity is stable regardless of non-verbal IQ, supporting the recent movement to reduce the importance of non-verbal IQ criterion in DLD diagnoses.
Descriptors: Language Impairments, Foreign Countries, Morphology (Languages), Receptive Language, Children
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Chile
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A