Editorial: Language across neurodevelopmental disorders

Abstract

The development of language is critical to meet the demands and challenges of contemporary societies. Unfortunately, many children do not master language skills at rates or levels consistent with their chronological ages, and language impairments during childhood tend to persist across the development with lifelong implications for academic, social-emotional, and behavioral functioning (Conti-Ramsden et al., 2018). Although many children diagnosed with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and intellectual disability display language impairments, the specific profile of impairments may differ across disorders, making research investigating language across these clinical conditions critical. Neurodevelopmental disorders imply disruptions in the typical growth and development of the central nervous system (e.g., Goldstein and Reynolds, 1999), and the symptoms usually emerge early in childhood (Bishop and Rutter, 2008). [...]