Developmental Language Disorder affects around 7% of school-aged children. It is a neurodevelopmental condition that continues to affect people throughout their life. However, despite DLD being a persistent condition, and a relatively common one, awareness of DLD in the general population is much lower than for conditions such as autism. What do medical professionals need to know about DLD? How might it affect working with patients?
For DLD Awareness Day 2021, we hosted an online evening webinar for medical students and students in health programmes, on the topic of DLD. Psychology lecturer Hannah Hobson introduced and closed the session, and we heard from Helen Eales (Speech and Language Therapist), Colley Crawford (a parent of a child with DLD, and a medical professional herself), and Annabel Lee (a medical student who has conducted research on camouflaging and DLD). There was information on the common characteristics of DLD, the perspectives of clinicians and parents, and plenty of opportunity to ask questions of our panel.
The HYMS PaedSoc have agreed to offer certificates of attendance for those who attend. The event took place on the 15th of October (DLD Awareness Day), starting at 5:30pm. Check our our news page for a run down of some of the questions and answers from this session!