The water tower in North Battleford was illuminated in purple and yellow lights on Oct. 18 for the annual International Developmental Language Disorder Awareness Day. (Photo/ Sherry Bockus)

By Kenneth Cheung

HIDDEN STRUGGLES

‘It’s very invisible’: N.B. lights up to raise awareness for Developmental Language Disorder

Oct 28, 2024 | 3:26 PM

If you noticed some purple and yellow lights illuminating the North Battleford water tower a couple of weeks ago, it was not merely for decoration; it was lit up to raise awareness for youth experiencing Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) in Saskatchewan.

According to Sherry Bockus, a former speech and language pathologist for the Living Sky School Division, nearly 14,000 students in the province are struggling with DLD, making it a pressing issue in the education system.

DLD is a common disability causing difficulties in understanding and using language for unknown reasons.

“There are only 120 speech pathologists in the whole province, so It’s very underserved and very, very invisible to most people,” Bockus noted.

To spotlight awareness, North Battleford recently joined other major cities worldwide, including London, in illuminating its landmark on October 18 to commemorate the eighth annual DLD International Awareness Day. This year’s theme is “Speak Up for DLD.”

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Tower 42 in London, England was illuminated with purple light to raise awareness for Developmental Language Disorder on Oct. 18.( Photo/ Instagram@radldcam)

Cheryl Turner, a former local speech and language pathologist, believes a key factor in DLD is the prevalence of poverty among many children, which she said is a compounding challenge.

Turner explained that families experiencing poverty often face multiple stressors, hindering parent-child communication which causes children to struggle with developing healthy language skills as they grow. She noted that these stresses could stem from challenges such as housing instability, food insecurity, and substance abuse.

“Making them [not] have the ability, and the internal resources to spend time talking with their children and reading to their children. So then their children become disadvantaged,” she said.

Bockus also agrees poverty is a primary contributor to DLD, noting that the isolation brought on by COVID-19 may have intensified this issue in Saskatchewan.

She pointed out that children who experienced lockdowns during the pandemic often had limited interaction with others. Many turned to electronic devices like iPads for entertainment, which, she believes, restricted opportunities for proper conversation and healthy language development.

“We have a lot of little guys who just don’t have the same experiences in listening and using language, so they don’t develop it at the same rate as others do,” she said.

When DLD kids struggle to comprehend, they often become frustrated, leading to ‘acting out.’ Bockus noted that this behaviour is often misinterpreted as rebelliousness, resulting in them being labelled ‘naughty.’

“They are not trying to be bad and not listening. They are just not understanding it,” Turner added.

To help them understand things better, Bockus and Turner suggest keeping sentences simple and direct, which can help them grasp the ideas more easily.

They also believe that seeking professional speech therapy is essential for effectively addressing the disorder. Turner pointed out that tailored therapy can help children with DLD understand complex information and communicate with proper grammar.

“Understanding what it is, finding these children and then providing the appropriate therapy for them is critical if we want to change the status of our children if we want to have more children reading at grade level and if we want to have more children graduating,” Turner said.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com