Neuropsychological perspective on developmental language disorders

Research news item

How does a neuropsychological perspective on developmental language disorders (DLD) contribute to appropriate diagnosis, treatment, and education for children and young people with DLD? This question will be answered by Constance Vissers, professor by special appointment of Developmental Language Disorders, on Wednesday 25 May at Radboud University in Nijmegen. Her mission: "I want children with DLD to be able to participate fully in society."

Enhancing expertise for children with DLD

Developmental language disorders are complex and manifest themselves differently in each child or adolescent. In order to identify DLD more quickly and better help children with this often poorly understood disorder, Prof. Constance Vissers is conducting research into the neuropsychology of developmental language disorders and other topics. This means that we look at the relationship between brain, cognition, and behaviour. The aim is to ultimately enhance the expertise for children and young people with DLD.

During her inaugural lecture on Wednesday 25 May, Vissers will explain why it is important to look at developmental language disorders from a neuropsychological perspective. "The problems of children with DLD are complex; they often go beyond language and speech problems alone. These children usually find it difficult to understand their feelings and thoughts and to control themselves. We need to understand more about all these dimensions of DLD so that we can help these children even better."

 

Bijzonder hoogleraar Taalontwikkelingsstoornissen Constance Vissers

The road to a personalised approach

"Children with DLD may exhibit a broad range symptoms," Vissers further explains. "What do we know about their problems with processing information? About their development? About their surroundings? And above all, what is the connection between these symptoms? We try to understand this by doing research. When helping children with DLD, attention must be paid to the overall interaction: between the various cognitive functions, the development of the child at that moment, and the influences from their surroundings that collectively determine their behaviour and behavioural problems. The language disorder alone should not be the primary focus of care and education."

Constance Vissers is a senior researcher at Kentalis and has been a professor by special appointment since 2019. "I really enjoyed the lively discussions with colleagues from the primary process in those first few years and was inspired by the conversations with children and young people with DLD and their parents. Research always includes an exchange with experts in the field of DLD, care professionals, and educational professionals. Their questions lead to research projects. We all want these children to be able to participate fully in society." 

The professionals test hypotheses from the research directly in their clinical practice or in the classroom. "We take their experiences back to the university to adjust and refine the research. In this way, we learn more and more about developmental language disorders and are able to better help children with DLD all the time."

Contact information

For press inquiries, please contact the researcher directly, or contact team Science Communication on +31 24 361 6000 or media [at] ru.nl (media[at]ru[dot]nl). 

About person
Prof. C.T.W.M. Vissers (Constance)
Theme
Behaviour, Upbringing, Language