Specific language impairment (SLI), or developmental language disorder, is the most prevalent development disorder in childhood. However, most children with SLI are detected late. Predictive... Show moreSpecific language impairment (SLI), or developmental language disorder, is the most prevalent development disorder in childhood. However, most children with SLI are detected late. Predictive properties of language milestones and risk factors for having SLI later in life were investigated in a nested case-control study. The outcomes showed that from the age of two years, children not meeting language milestones at the norm age are at risk for having SLI at school age. A concise tool was developed to enable young children with SLI to be detected. This uses five language milestones and has acceptable predictive values. Of all investigated risk factors, only maternal age, the place in the birth order and being breastfeed directly after birth had a relationship with having SLI later. It was also established that children with SLI were more likely to be late, not only in reaching language milestones, but also in reaching motor milestones at the norm age. Suggestions are made to improve the early detection of children with SLI using this concise tool. The concise tool is easy to implement in the Dutch healthcare system because it uses data already collected during visits in the well-child healthcare system in the Netherlands. Show less
