Doha: As part of the World Developmental Language Disorder Awareness Day celebration, the Speech Therapy Department at Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Qatar Rehabilitation Institute (QRI) has organised a training workshop for parents of children with developmental language disorder (aged four years or younger).
October 15 each year has been dedicated to celebrating the Day, and this year’s theme was ‘Think about language’ and ‘Think about developmental language disorder.’
Iman Al Mulla, Head of Speech Therapy Department at HMC’s Qatar Rehabilitation Institute stated that the workshop aims to extend support to parents of children living with the disorder, train them on how to reconcile with the reality of their children’s disorder and how to best deal with these children and help develop their language skills. The workshop also aims to raise public awareness of this order and highlight the quality healthcare services provided by HMC to children with the disorder.
The workshop, attended by 25 mothers of children living with developmental language disorder, familiarised the audience with the nature of this disorder, its causes, risk factors associated with it, and how to deal with children at home. After the workshop, various inquiries from the attendees were answered, and commemorative gift items, attendance certificates, and educational leaflets were distributed to the attendees.
“Children living with the developmental language disorder usually have difficulty developing expressive and receptive language skills, as the disorder takes the form of a significant delay in the proper use of language at different levels including vocal, grammatical, and semantic, and connotative levels. In the absence of therapeutic intervention, such delay is likely to continue until adulthood," Al Mulla added.
It is worth mentioning that Developmental Language Disorder can be determined if the deficiency in language performance is not associated with low mental capacity, hearing impairment, or any other medical conditions. It is important to know that the incidence of developmental language disorder is relatively high and often affects self-confidence, academic performance, the professional future of the individual, and the quality of life in general.