Language and Independence in Adolescents With and Without a History of Specific Language Impairment (SLI) Purpose Achieving behavioral independence is a key task of adolescent development. This 1 article of a companion set of 2 (the 2nd addressing the topic of parental perspectives) presents an investigation of the impact of language ability on independence. Method Longitudinal and follow-up data from 120 adolescents with ... Research Article
Research Article  |   February 01, 2008
Language and Independence in Adolescents With and Without a History of Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
Gina Conti-Ramsden and Kevin Durkin
 
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Gina Conti-Ramsden
    The University of Manchester, England
  • Kevin Durkin
    University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
  • Contact author: Gina Conti-Ramsden, Human Communication and Deafness, School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Manchester, Ellen Wilkinson Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom. E-mail: gina.conti-ramsden@manchester.ac.uk.
  • Copyright © 2008 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Article Information
Normal Language Processing / Language Disorders / Specific Language Impairment / Language / Research Articles
Research Article   |   February 01, 2008
Language and Independence in Adolescents With and Without a History of Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, February 2008, Vol. 51, 70-83. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2008/005)
History: Received October 6, 2006 , Revised February 12, 2007 , Accepted June 25, 2007
 
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, February 2008, Vol. 51, 70-83. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2008/005)
History: Received October 6, 2006; Revised February 12, 2007; Accepted June 25, 2007
Web of Science® Times Cited: 37

Purpose Achieving behavioral independence is a key task of adolescent development. This 1 article of a companion set of 2 (the 2nd addressing the topic of parental perspectives) presents an investigation of the impact of language ability on independence.

Method Longitudinal and follow-up data from 120 adolescents with a history of specific language impairment (SLI), as well as concurrent data on a comparison group of 118 typically developing (TD) young people, are reported. Parental and self-report measures were used to examine independent functioning related to everyday living at the end of compulsory education (16 years of age).

Results Adolescents with SLI are less independent than their TD peers, and level of independence is associated with poor early language and poor later literacy skills.

Conclusion Language and literacy play a larger role in adolescent independent functioning than nonverbal abilities in both TD adolescents and adolescents with SLI.

Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Nuffield Foundation (Grants AT 251 [OD], DIR/28, and EDU 8366) and the Wellcome Trust (Grant 060774), all awarded to the first author. Thanks to Zoë Simkin for help with database management and analysis, the research assistants who were involved with data collection, and the schools and families who gave their time so generously.
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