Preface
Maria Vlassopoulos & Baiba Trinite
Part I Developmental language disorder in context
Introduction
James Law
Chapter 1
Evidence-based practice and its application to developmental language disorders
James Law
Chapter 2
The development of the practitioner survey
James Law, Josie Tulip & Elisabeth Beckermann
Chapter 3
Theory and intervention in developmental language disorder: The view of the European practitioner
David Saldana and Carol-Anne Murphy
Chapter 4
Servoce delivery for children with language disorders across Europe and beyond
Cristina McKean, Ellen Gerrits, Josie Tulip and Anna-Kasia Tolonen
Chapter 5
The social and cultural context of intervention for children with developmental language disorder
Elin Thordardottir & Seyhun Topbas
Part II National vignettes
Introduction
James Law
Austria
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Latvia
Lebanon
Lithuania
Macedonia
Malta
The Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
The Russian Federation
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
The United Kingdom
Index
Although most children learn language relatively quickly, as many as 10 per cent of them are slow to start speaking and are said to have developmental language disorder (DLD). Children with DLD are managed by a variety of different professionals in different countries, are offered different services for different periods of time and are given a variety of different therapeutic treatments. To date, there has been no attempt to evaluate these different practices. Managing Children with Developmental Language Disorder: Theory and Practice Across Europe and Beyond does just this, reporting on the findings of a survey carried out as part of the work of COST Action IS1406, a European research network.
Law and colleagues analyse the results of a pan-European survey, looking at how different services are delivered in different counties, at the cultural factors underpinning such services and the theoretical frameworks used to inform practice in different countries. The book also provides a snapshot of international practices in a set of 35 country-specific "vignettes", providing a benchmark for future developments but also calling attention to the work of key practitioners and thinkers in each of the countries investigated.
This book will be essential reading for practitioners working with children with language impairments, those commissioning services and policy in the field and students of speech and language therapy.
