The perspectives of students with DLD on what facilitates learning

Abstract

The aim of this study is to further understandings of what support young people diagnosed with developmental language disorder (DLD) find helpful in educational settings. The study is grounded in a multidimensional understanding of disabilities where biological, psychological, and social dimensions of living with a disability are included (Anastasiou & Kauffman, 2013).

While it has repeatedly been shown that students with DLD have an increased risk for educational problems (Ziegenfusz et al., 2022), little is known about what these students find helpful for learning. The perspectives of students with DLD are important for the development of adequate support for this group (Lyons et al., 2022).

In the study, reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021) is used to analyse semi‐structured interviews with 14 students (13–16 years) diagnosed with DLD. Preliminary results indicate that help to understand expectations and requirements for educational tasks and activities can be important for students with DLD. Students with DLD may also find help to manage time and effort spent on educational activities important. Moreover, a responsive approach where teachers monitor students’ activities and behaviour and offer support when needed can also help students with DLD to better manage educational tasks. In addition, adjusted linguistic demands in educational activities may also facilitate learning for students with DLD. The initial analysis indicates that exploring students’ perspectives on support can contribute to better understandings of how negative effects of DLD in educational settings can be reduced.