This page provides guidance on strengths and challenges for healthcare professionals with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a common, lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder that affects around 7% of the population.

DLD makes it harder for individuals to:

• understand spoken and written language
• learn new vocabulary
• remember instructions and
• use grammar correctly.

This is not linked to intelligence; people with DLD can be highly able in other areas. DLD affects people across their whole life and in all the languages they speak.

Despite language processing barriers, nurses with DLD often bring:

• Excellent practical, hands-on and visual learning skills
• Strong empathy and supportive patient care
• Creative approaches to problem-solving, especially non- verbal cues
• High determination and resilience from having developed coping strategies
• Attentiveness to detail when time and support are provided.

• Verbal instructions: Difficulty following rapid or complex instructions, especially in busy or noisy environments (e.g. handovers, ward rounds, emergencies).
• Documentation: May spend longer reading, writing and double-checking clinical notes, care plans or patient information.
• Team communication: Hesitancy contributing in meetings, finding or using the right words, or remembering technical terminology.
• Patient education: May find it challenging to explain complex procedures or instructions on medication and care.
• Learning on placement: May require extra support with lectures, training that relies heavily on spoken or written language, and preparation for assessments or OSCEs.

• DLD may go unnoticed in women or people who mask their difficulties with strong social skills or compensatory strategies.
• Men may be more likely to be identified in childhood, but both genders may face barriers to diagnosis in adulthood.