Lancaster’s Ashton Memorial lit up in purple and yellow on October 18 to celebrate Developmental Language Disorder Awareness Day.

One in 14 children have Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and the Awareness Day is the idea of psychologist Dr Margriet Groen of Lancaster University.

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) refers to difficulties learning language and affects approximately 7% of the population. It causes difficulties with speaking, understanding and reading - with a high risk of dyslexia.

Dr Groen said: ”Imagine sitting in a classroom unable to understand what is being said but being expected to achieve the same as your peers. Welcome to the life of the two children in the average classroom who are faced with this reality every day. Limited awareness of DLD amongst educators and the general public means these children are being overlooked and the lifelong impact can be devastating. This is tragic because with the right support people with DLD can thrive.”

Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (RADLD) is an international organisation helping to increase awareness. This year’s campaign is ‘DLD – See Me’ and families, teachers, speech pathologists and other professionals are joining to make DLD visible to the world, because no one should feel invisible.

Dr Groen said: “I’ve seen first-hand in family members and children of friends how an undiagnosed language disorder can affect people’s self-esteem and academic achievement. This motivated me to become ambassador for RADLD and to arrange the lighting up of the iconic Ashton Memorial.

“Through my research on how children’s language development supports learning to read, it has become very clear to me that language skills are crucial for reading. Or to put it differently, if children have difficulties learning their native language, it puts them at a big disadvantage for learning to read and reading is vital in today’s literate society.”

People with DLD are 6 times more likely to suffer from anxiety and 3 times more likely to have clinical depression. They are also at significant risk of struggling with reading, spelling and mathematics. Although DLD is a common condition affecting many areas of life, children with DLD are unlikely to receive access to services, particularly for girls. DLD has also been the focus of significantly less research than other conditions.

Dr Groen said: “I hope greater awareness of DLD will make it easier for those affected to be recognized and diagnosed and receive appropriate support."

On Tuesday 17th November 2020 at 7.30 pm, the Psychology Department at Lancaster University will host an online event around Developmental Language Disorder for parents, teachers and practitioners. We’ll talk about what Developmental Language Disorder is, about ongoing research at Lancaster University on DLD, and about local services available for families with children with language difficulties. There will also be ample opportunity to ask questions. For more information on the event: http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/psy-lockdown-seminars/