St Catherine’s School and Sixth Form held a DLD Day dressed in flags from around the world or purple and yellow, to raise awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) for international #DLDday on Friday 20th October 2023.
Developmental Language Disorder is a hidden but common disability that affects 1 in 14 people causing difficulties understanding and using language for no known reason.
DLD ice cream
St Catherine’s school and sixth form in Ventnor joined the campaign to raise awareness of DLD .
Crave ice-cream shop also supported by designing a special purple and yellow ice cream to sell on the day, to help raise awareness for DLD.
What is St Catherine’s?
St Catherine’s supports students with speech, language and communication needs in Ventnor.
They support 96 students at this time, to help them achieve more than they thought possible.
DLD Around the World
The 2023 DLD day theme is DLD Around the World, highlighting that DLD affects people around the world regardless of age, gender, language spoken or ethnicity. Speaking more than one language does not cause DLD.
In fact, people with DLD can learn multiple languages. DLD is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting how the brain processes language, so it makes sense that we find it in every country and every language.
Raising Awareness
Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (RADLD), the peak body who coordinate international DLD Day are advocating for increased recognition and support for people with DLD around the world.
Parsons: Six times more likely to suffer from anxiety
Stephen Parsons, Chairperson of RADLD, said,
“People with DLD are six times more likely to suffer from anxiety and three times more likely to have clinical depression.
“They are also at significant risk of struggling with reading, spelling and mathematics.
“Although DLD is a common condition affecting many areas of life, people with DLD are unlikely to receive access to services.”
News shared by Tanya on behalf of St Catherine’s. Ed
