Non - speci c nature of speci c language impairment : a review of the literature with regard to concomitant motor impairments

In the light of emerging suggestions that language and motor deŽ cits may co-occur, the literature on speciŽ c language impairment (SLI) was reviewed to investigate the prevalence of co-morbidity between SLI and poor limb motor skill in children diagnosed with language impairments. An extensive literature search was undertaken and the subsequent Ž ndings evaluated with particular reference to issues surrounding symptom co-occurrence, as well as to theoretical and aetiological accounts of SLI. Clearly substantial co-morbidity exists between SLI and poor motor skill, suggesting that SLI is not a speciŽ c disorder of language, but rather that children with SLI experience a broader range of diYculties, of which motor incoordination is one. Current theoretical explanations of SLI do not account fully for such wide-ranging diYculties and it may be useful in the future to focus on a more detailed explanation in terms of shared cognitive processes or neuromaturational delay to understand further the nature of the disorder, to explain it theoretically and to deal with it practically.