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. 2023 Nov 9;18(11):e0293736.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293736. eCollection 2023.

Definition and terminology of developmental language disorders-Interdisciplinary consensus across German-speaking countries

Carina Lüke  1 , Christina Kauschke  2 , Andrea Dohmen  3 , Andrea Haid  4 , Christina Leitinger  5 , Claudia Männel  6   7 , Tanja Penz  8 , Steffi Sachse  9 , Wiebke Scharff Rethfeldt  10 , Julia Spranger  11 , Susanne Vogt  12 , Marlen Niederberger  11 , Katrin Neumann  13
Affiliations

Definition and terminology of developmental language disorders-Interdisciplinary consensus across German-speaking countries

Carina Lüke et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

In recent years, there have been intense international discussions about the definition and terminology of language disorders in childhood, such as those sparked by the publications of the CATALISE consortium. To address this ongoing debate, a Delphi study was conducted in German-speaking countries. This study consisted of three survey waves and involved over 400 experts from relevant disciplines. As a result, a far-reaching consensus was achieved on essential definition criteria and terminology, presented in 23 statements. The German term 'Sprachentwicklungsstörung' was endorsed to refer to children with significant deviations from typical language development that can negatively impact social interactions, educational progress, and/or social participation and do not occur together with a potentially contributing impairment. A significant deviation from typical language development was defined as a child's scores in standardized test procedures being ≥ 1.5 SD below the mean for children of the same age. The results of this Delphi study provide a proposal for a uniform use of terminology for language disorders in childhood in German-speaking countries.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Flowchart of the Delphi procedure and participants of all three rounds of survey.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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