Public Awareness of Childhood Language Impairment in Turkey: A Descriptive Study

OpenAlex İngilizce

Objective: Childhood language impairment (CLI), also known as developmental language disorder, adversely affects children's expressive and/or receptive language development. Although relatively significant action has been taken to raise public awareness about other developmental disorders in Turkey, limited attention has been paid to CLI. Moreover, no previous study has been conducted about awareness of the Turkish population about CLI. Material and Methods: We carried out the Turkish version of a survey developed by Working Group 3 of COST Action IS1406 to estimate public awareness of CLI regarding its nature, causes and the problems associated with it. Data were collected in the form of face-to-face interviews. The sample included 87 participants from socio-economically diverse districts of İstanbul, Turkey, determined on the basis of the Human Development Index. Results: A significantly lower number of the participants reported having heard of CLI compared to autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and speech disorder. Another finding was that women with children reported having heard of CLI significantly more than those without children. It was also observed that the participants had inadequate knowledge of the problems that individuals with CLI have and of its causes. Conclusion: The current findings highlight the need to take more action to raise public awareness about CLI in Turkey.