Have You Heard of Developmental Language Disorder? An Online Survey

Abstract

Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder. It had been suggested that public awareness is low for DLD, especially in comparison with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and dyslexia. This study investigated awareness of DLD, ASD, ADHD, and dyslexia, as well as specific language impairment (SLI) in Australia. An online survey about awareness and knowledge of DLD, SLI, ASD, ADHD, and dyslexia was completed by 272 people in Australia. People had low awareness of DLD (19.9%) compared with ASD (97.4%), ADHD (97.7%), and dyslexia (98.5%). The former label for the disorder, SLI, had an even lower level of awareness (9.4%). People have heard about DLD from a wide range of sources and were likely to have incorrect knowledge about DLD as well as believing ASD or ADHD to be the most prevalent disorders. Awareness and knowledge of DLD appear to be low. More targeted approaches to increasing public awareness of DLD are needed.