Marja Asikainen

Diagnosing Specific Language Impairment: a Thorough Evaluation of the Disorder Marja Asikainen

A child with specific language impairment (SLI) doesnot acquire normal language ability at theappropriate age. Findings in SLI studies arecontradictory, and the core problem of the disorderis still under debate. The present work suggests thatdeficient discrimination and memory functions are theessential factors underlying SLI. However, theenvironmental support that children with SLI receiveseems to correspond insufficiently to the underlyingfactors. Moreover, the possible effects of SLI andits underlying factors on psychomotor andsocial-emotional development merit reconsideration.