Arguments for and against early therapeutic intervention for children with language disorders

Essay from the year 2007 in the subject Psychology - Developmental Psychology, grade: 1,0, University of Derby (Institut für Psychologie ), course: Language Disorders, language: English, abstract: Language development is one of the most fundamental developmental tasks in early life. On this account, particularly parents are frequently worried about their children making progress in this area and are wondering whether to request therapeutic support, if they do not. In this context, the main issue of intervention is to "most effectively [...] improve the chil-dren´s ability to communicate" (Donaldson, 1995, p.61). This essay will critically discuss the pros and cons of early therapeutic interventions' (ETI) necessity for children without patho-logical findings, as well as for Late Talkers (LT) and Specific Language Impairment (SLI) as examples for children with language disorders; and will argue that ETI should be carried out on principle, because the costs are outbalanced by the benefits. It will conclude that selective prevention for individuals and populations at high risk is the best approach.