Behavioral disorders in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI).

MAGGIO V; GRAÑANA N; RICHAUDEAU A; TORRES S; GIANNOTTI A; SUBURO AM

Simposio; Cell Symposia: Autism Spectrum Disorders: From Mechanisms to Therapies.; 2011

Behavioral disorders in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) Maggio V, Grañana N, Richaudeau A, Torres S, Giannotti A, Suburo A The relationship between SLI and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is controversial. Behavioral disorders in SLI might be a link between both disorders but might also hinder a differential diagnosis. Methods. We evaluated a sample of 100 consecutive patients with confirmed SLI (ITPA-3), and careful exclusion of ASD. All had an average executive IQ. A behavioral checklist (CBCL 1½-5, n = 71; CBCL/6-18, n = 29) was used. Results. The age of our sample (in years) was median 4.8 (range 2.6-8.8) and average 5.0 (CI95 4.6-5.3). Sex ratio was 4/1 (male/female). The sample included 80 mixed and 20 expressive SLIs. At least one CBLC syndrome appeared in 60% of children in both age groups. 40% of preschool children showed two or more syndromes, but older children usually had a single syndrome. Withdrawn predominated in preschool children (52%), whereas Social Problems predominated in the older sample (31%). Conclusions. The high frequency of behavioral problems in SLIs should be further studied to understand its potential relationship to ASD.