Participation of Children With Developmental Language Disorders in Educational Settings-Parents' Perspectives on Patterns, Environmental Influences and Support Strategies.
Katharina Kuhlmann, Ulla Licandro
Children with DLD participated at similar levels in preschool and school, with high involvement across activities.
The biggest gaps were in extracurricular clubs and special roles. Most parents saw the environment as neutral rather than a barrier.
Key findings
1Participation was broadly similar between preschool and school-aged children with DLD. Involvement was high across all activities (average near 4 on a 5-point scale) with no significant group differences. Only two activities showed significant frequency differences: preschoolers attended classroom activities more often (M = 6.49 vs. M = 5.61), while school-aged children had more frequent peer interactions outside class (M = 6.55 vs. M = 5.91).
2The highest nonparticipation was for school-sponsored teams, clubs and organizations (47.6% of preschoolers; 30.4% of school-aged children) and special roles at school (38.1% and 22.6% respectively).
3Most parents did not clearly identify environmental factors as supports or barriers (52.5% of preschool and 44.6% of school-aged parents said 'not an issue'). When they did, supports were reported more than barriers. Emotional and motivational support was the most common parental strategy in both groups (48.6% preschool; 48.8% school).
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What it does not show
No control group of children without DLD, so you cannot tell whether these participation levels are typical or reduced compared to peers. All children were recruited from a single inpatient rehabilitation clinic, which may overrepresent families with greater needs or better access to services. The sample skews toward boys (64.4%), which may not reflect the broader DLD population. All data come from parent report; no teacher or child perspective was collected, and parents acknowledged limited insight into what happens in the classroom. Cross-sectional design: no follow-up, so you cannot see how participation changes over time or in response to intervention. Variables that likely shape participation — school type, socioeconomic status, severity of language impairment, bilingualism — were not measured or analysed.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest and report no funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the high involvement scores (near 4 on a 5-point scale) as evidence that children with DLD participate as well as their peers — this study has no comparison group without DLD, and the highest nonparticipation (47.6% of preschoolers in clubs and organizations) shows real gaps that a group average can hide.
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