SAVE THE DATE: DLD AWARENESS DAY – OCTOBER 16 2020
The countdown is on! This Developmental Language Disorder Awareness Day, RADLD, is calling on everyone to #DLDSeeMe. With 1 in 14 children having DLD, it is time we talk more about this hidden but common lifelong condition.
WHAT IS DLD?
You’ve probably heard about autism and dyslexia. Now it’s time to find out about DLD.
DLD causes difficulties with speaking and understanding for no known reason. There are serious and long-term impacts, as it puts children at greater risk of failing at school and struggling with mental health and future employment. The biggest challenge with DLD is you can’t tell by looking at a person that they have DLD and therefore, they often get overlooked for support.
People with DLD can be as different as you and I. However, it is important to know that with the right supports, they can thrive!
ABOUT DLD AWARENESS DAY
Developmental Language Disorder Awareness Day, now in its fourth year, is celebrated annually around the world with more than 30 countries involved in 2019. This year’s campaign is ‘DLD – See Me’ and families, teachers, therapists and the community are coming together to ensure people with DLD no longer feel invisible.
Nearly 700 international RADLD Ambassador and supporters will also be taking over TikTok using the hashtag #DLDSeeMe. People with DLD will be creating their own short TikTok’s to share and raise awareness.
HOW CAN I SUPPORT DLD AWARENESS DAY?
Increased awareness of DLD can reduce social stigmatisation and improve access to specialist and support services. Supporting DLD Awareness Day can be as simple as visiting the RADLD social media channels and sharing this year’s #DLDSeeMe awareness video (due for release in early October) with your networks. You may also like to hold a DLD Awareness Day activity at your workplace or in the community and there are a number of materials including downloadable posters and fact sheets available at WWW.RADLD.ORG. RADLD is also working to have landmarks around the world light up in purple and yellow, the official DLD Awareness Day colours.
WHO IS RADLD?
Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (RADLD) is an international volunteer-driven organisation working to increase awareness of this hidden, but common condition.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
You can access the full media kit with campaign images, RADLD logos, photos of children with DLD and case studies at our website WWW.RADLD.ORG. You can also send us an email at hello@radld.org.
We have a number of experts in the field of DLD including the following RADLD Committee Members who are available for interview/comment including:
- AUSTRALIA: SHAUN ZIEGENFUSZ, Speech Pathologist | Co-Founder of The DLD Project | PhD candidate at Griffith University | Shaun@thedldproject.com
- UNITED STATES: KARLA MCGREGOR, Director | Center for Childhood Deafness, Language & Learning – Boystown National Research Hospital & Professor Emerita | The University of Iowa | McGregor@boystown.org
- CANADA: LISA ARCHIBALD, Associate Professor | School of Communication Sciences & Disorders and Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario | larchiba@uwo.ca
- UK: STEPHEN PARSONS, Speech & Language Therapist | Chair of NAPLIC | parsons66@gmail.com
- ASIA: ANITA MEI-YIN WONG, Associate Professor | Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, The University of Hong Kong | amywong@hku.hk
You can also access all of our resources via the following platforms:
- WEBSITE:radld.org
- FACEBOOK:facebook.com/radld.page
- TWITTER: https://twitter.com/RADLDcam
- YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/RALLIcampaign
DLD – KNOW THE STATS
Norbury et al., 2016
- DLD affects 7.5% of grade 1 children. Teachers, need to know about DLD, because there are two students with DLD in every classroom. In a class of 30, 2 children have DLD.
McGregor – https://dldandme.org/diagnosing-and-treating-dld/
- DLD is 50 times more prevalent than hearing impairment and 5 times more prevalent than autism
Young et al., 2002
- People with DLD are 6 times more likely to have reading difficulties and 4 times more likely to struggle with math.
Conti-Ramsden & Botting, 2008
- People with DLD are 6 times more likely than others to experience clinical levels of anxiety and 3 times more likely to have clinical depression.
Cleaton & Kirby, 2018
- DLD commonly co-occurs with other neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD, Developmental Coordination Disorder, dyslexia, and dyscalculia.
Charest et al., 2019; Del Tufo & Sayako Earle, 2020
- DLD is a persistent problem, but it may look different at different ages requiring different assessment tools sensitive to ongoing challenges. The core deficits in DLD change over the lifespan. Children do not grow out of DLD. They need support.
Dockrell et al., 2019
- Children with DLD receive less school and specialist support than those with Autism regardless of language, literacy, cognitive, or behaviour status.
Hollo et al., 2014; Benner et al., 200
- 4 out of 5 children with identified emotional and behavioural problems may have unidentified DLD.
Redmond, 2004
- Having DLD can make it hard to use language to make friends and get along in groups.
Tomblin et al., 1997; Norbury et al., 2016
- DLD is unidentified in many affected children. Children with DLD often do not receive specialised services to address the condition.
- DLD affects males and females at about the same rate. Males and females with DLD don’t differ in severity of their DLD symptoms.
Bishop, 2010
- Compared to other neurodevelopmental conditions, DLD is the subject of less research
Conti-Ramsden et al., 2017
- Adults with DLD can achieve positive educational and employment outcomes
- People with DLD can succeed despite their language difficulties.