Language Disorders in Children and Adults: New Issues in Research and Practice

This book contains contributions from eminent clinicians and researchers in the field of language impairment, and crosses the bridge between children and adults. It reflects the developments that have taken place in Speech and Language Therapy over the past 10 years and focuses on issues in SLT that have recently come into ascendancy. These include: personal and social consequences of language disability, and how to measure these; the evidence base for speech and language therapy interventions; language processing and the interplay between language and cognition; and the degree to which impairments in one affect the other. There is a growing concern about the needs of adolescents who have language difficulties - a group who, by their age, development and experience straddle the child/adult divide. It extends the themes by looking at future implications and sets out the challenges ahead for the speech and language therapy profession. Preface. Introduction An introduction to language disorders in children and adults: New and different themes, issues and connections (Victoria Joffe, Madeline Cruice and Shula Chiat). Chapter 1: Beyond outcomes: The importance of developmental pathways (Penny Roy and Shula Chiat). Chapter 2: Substance or scaffold? The role of language in thought (Rosemary Varley). Chapter 3: Aphasia therapy and Cognitive Neuropsychology: A promise still to be fulfilled (Jane Marshall). Chapter 4: Speech-language therapy and evidence-based practice (Barbara Dodd). Chapter 5: Minding the gap between research and practice in developmental language disorders (Victoria Joffe). Chapter 6: Comparing and contrasting views: Building consensus around quality of life with aphasia (Madeline Cruice, Ruth Hill, Linda Worrall and Louise Hickson). Chapter 7: Autism and specific language impairment: A tantalizing dance (Michael Rutter). Chapter 8: Outcomes for young people with a history of specific language impairment at 16-17 years: A more positive picture (Geoff Lindsay and Julie Dockrell). Chapter 9: Making new connections - where to next (James Law). Index.