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. 2024 Dec;87(12):742-752.
doi: 10.1177/03080226241280732. Epub 2024 Sep 13.

Daily living skills in adolescents with and without (developmental) language disorder, measured using the WHEEL OF INDEPENDENCETM framework

Debbie Burridge  1 , Lucy Hughes  1   2 , Jill Titterington  3   4 , Nicola Dawson  1   5 , Susan Ebbels  1   6
Affiliations

Daily living skills in adolescents with and without (developmental) language disorder, measured using the WHEEL OF INDEPENDENCETM framework

Debbie Burridge et al. Br J Occup Ther. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Introduction: Developing daily living skills, such as self-care, cooking and managing money, is a key priority for adolescents with special educational needs. Previous studies investigated the emergence of daily living skills in young people with a range of neurodevelopmental conditions. However, none focused on adolescents with language disorders, including developmental language disorder.

Method: Two groups of 16-year-olds participated in this study: a typically developing group (n = 88) and a (developmental) language disorder group (n = 78), which was subdivided into participants with co-occurring motor difficulties (n = 56) versus typical motor development (n = 22). Data were collected using the WHEEL OF INDEPENDENCE™ framework, a daily living skills measurement tool. Between-group comparisons assessed whether there were significant differences in daily living skills between typically developing and (developmental) language disorder participants and between those with and without motor difficulties within the (developmental) language disorder group.

Results: Findings revealed that typically developing participants had significantly better daily living skills than the (developmental) language disorder group. Within the (developmental) language disorder group, participants with motor difficulties showed marginally significantly lower daily living skills than those without.

Conclusion: Adolescents with (developmental) language disorder experience challenges developing their daily living skills, compared to typically developing peers. This may be compounded if they have co-occurring motor difficulties. Further research could inform understanding of the mechanisms underlying these differences in order to develop tailored and effective interventions.

Keywords: Developmental language disorder; adolescents; daily living skills; motor skills; occupational therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: DB, LH, ND and SE are employed by Moor House School & College which sells resources and courses on the WHEEL OF INDEPENDENCE™ framework. There are no other conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Overlap between (D)LD and motor difficulties, including DCD.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Breakdown of primary and co-occurring diagnoses for the (D)LD group. Some students have more than one co-occurring diagnosis.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Distribution of TD versus (D)LD WOI scores (box plots show median and inter-quartile range; upper whisker shows Q3 + (1.5 × IQR), lower whisker shows Q1 – (1.5 × IQR); dots represent outliers).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Distribution of (D)LD only versus (D)LD + motor difficulties WOI scores.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Group comparisons across core WOI life skill areas.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Correlation between severity of language score and WOI score for all participants with (D)LD.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Correlation between severity of BOT motor score and WOI score for DLD + motor group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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