An investigation of language learning and processing in children with developmental language disorder and pediatric cerebellar tumor survivors

Both developmental disorders and acquired brain injury during language development may lead to language problems in children. These issues can cause problems with using and learning language, and can negatively influence school grades and later job opportunities. Unfortunately, little is known about the types of language problems that can occur, their causes, and how these are linked to brain development. In my PhD research I tried to fill some of the gaps in the current literature by 1) investigating verb learning and brain structure in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and; 2) describing the types of language problems in children with a brain tumor (in the cerebellum). Results showed that children with DLD may still have problems with learning novel verbs in elementary school, stressing the need for language follow-up in clinical practice. I also found differences in the brains of children with DLD as compared to their peers. These differences could be related to the language problems in DLD. Additionally, I demonstrated that brain tumor survivors may have short- and long-term language problems, but these currently receive little attention in clinical practice. My PhD research highlights the importance of a comprehensive follow-up of language development in both developmental and acquired language disorders to improve long-term language quality of life of these children. Further research is necessary, however, to understand the causes of the observed language problems.