Spoken language and social communication skills in adolescents with Emotional Behavioral Disorders

What is it about?

For many students who have emotional behavioural disorders (EBD), particularly adolescents who attend alternative school settings, language and social communication problems will go undetected due to difficult socio-emotional behaviours masking hidden communication problems. We show the specific nature of the communication problems in adolescents who attend alternative schools, across narratives, structural language and social communication.

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Why is it important?

Student behavior continues to be one of the greatest challenges faced within schools today. This study is the first to specifically investigate the nature of language and social communication skills of adolescents placed in specialized school settings because of their challenging behaviors and also identifies the proportion of these students who present with a language and/or communication disorder. This information is critical given the context of government initiatives to keep students in school longer. Our findings a) highlight the importance of using an assessment protocol that encompasses narrative, structural language and social communication to understand the nature of their communication difficulties; b) become important when speaking with parents or providing training to teachers and other professionals around the language that needs to be used to make learning experiences and/or social interactions successful; c) can help the student to better understand why learning and social situations may be difficult and d) highlight the need for formal partnerships between SLPs and behavioral schools.

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