At 28 years old, Joel was navigating life, career, and relationships in bustling London—unaware that the challenges he’d faced with communication since childhood had a name: Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). In this powerful episode of The Talking DLD Podcast, Joel shares what it was like to be diagnosed as an adult, how it reshaped his understanding of himself, and why he’s now passionate about breaking the silence around DLD.
With honesty, warmth, and insight, Joel walks us through the years before his diagnosis, the moment everything clicked, and how it feels to finally have answers. You won’t want to miss this deeply personal conversation as Joel explains how having the diagnosis has changed his life.
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Grow your skills with us & support people with DLD
Module 1: Diagnosing DLD with Confidence. Learn more.
Module 2: Evidence Based Interventions & Strategies for Children with DLD. Learn more.
Module 3: Planning Therapy & Measuring Outcomes for people with DLD. Learn more.
Module 4: DLD + Co-Occurring Conditions. Learn more.
International DLD Research Conference Keynote Series. Learn more.Â
What is Language + What is DLD - FREE Course. Learn more.
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Supporting Adults with DLD
Rachel Sievers is an independent speech language therapist based in the UK that has been proactively supporting a growing number of adults with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). In this episode of The Talking DLD Podcast, Rachel talks us through assessing adults and the types of supports people with DLD need later in life.Â
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You can access the resources discussed in this episode here: Supporting Adults with DLD - The DLD Project
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Grow your skills with us & support people with DLD
Module 1: Diagnosing DLD with Confidence. Learn more.
Module 2: Evidence Based Interventions & Strategies for Children with DLD. Learn more.
Module 3: Planning Therapy & Measuring Outcomes for people with DLD. Learn more.
Module 4: DLD + Co-Occurring Conditions. Learn more.
International DLD Research Conference Keynote Series. Learn more.Â
What is Language + What is DLD - FREE Course. Learn more.
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DLD & Higher Education
Each year, we are hearing from more people with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) who are undertaking ongoing study post school. Eires, a person with DLD, Dyslexia and ADHD has recently completed her Masters to become a speech pathologist. In this episode of The Talking DLD Podcast, we explore her experiences at school and university and the many hurdles she has overcome to follow her dreams. In this episode, Eires, shares her recommendations for educators working with people with DLD and provides tips for families and people with DLD on how to navigate ongoing learning.
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Listener note: This episode has some minor technical difficulties affecting audio quality that we were unable to fix during editing. We decided not to re-record the episode due to the amazing insights provided by Eires that we were worried we would lose if we did a redo. Enjoy.
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DLD & Creativity
Some people with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) seem to have an exceptional talent for thinking out of the box and creating incredible artworks. Think animator Lily Farrington and author Shelbi Annison. We have had the privilege to collaborate with many talented people with DLD and our most recent work on RADLD's 2024 #DLDday campaign gave us the opportunity to meet Siouxsie and her mum Rachel, two vibrant women from the UK with a passion for raising awareness of DLD. Siouxsie created the awareness poster by hand stitching fabric, buttons and threads that were then photographed and turned into a digital poster that was distributed globally. The artwork was spectacular, and it got us thinking how can people with DLD tap into their passions. In this episode of The Talking DLD Podcast, we hear about Siouxsie's process and the things she does to unlock her creativity.
Read more about Siouxsie and Rachel here: https://thedldproject.com/dld-creativity-with-siouxsie-rachel/
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Gestalt Language Processing and Natural Language Acquisition
Everyone is talking about the efficacy of Gestalt Language Processing and Natural Language Acquisition, so we thought we better have a look into what recent research is telling us. In this insightful episode of The Talking DLD Podcast, Professor Bronwyn Hemsley and Dr Caroline Bowen AM discuss their recent systematic review of interventions based on Gestalt Language Processing and Natural Language Acquisition (GLP/NLA): Clinical implications of absence of evidence and cautions for clinicians and parents.
Resources
Bryant, L., Bowen, C., Grove, R. Dixon, G., Beals, K., Shane, H., & Hemsley, B. (2024). Systematic review of interventions based on Gestalt Language Processing and Natural Language Acquisition (GLP/NLA): Clinical implications of absence of evidence and cautions for clinicians and parents. Current Developmental Disorders Reports, 12, 1–14 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-024-00312-z
The National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice
The Autism CRE Australia Supporting Autistic Children Guideline
The Communication Hub
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The Talking DLD Podcast brought to you by The DLD Project aims to connect families, educators, and health professionals through motivational and at times, game-changing conversations about all things DLD. We will share parent perspectives, engage health professionals, educators and academics to share their findings and experiences and we'll also ask the tough questions of those who are in a position to improve the lives of people with DLD, today.
Our vision is a world where people with DLD are recognised, understood, and empowered to live their best life. For evidence-based DLD information, resources, and training head to thedldproject.com.
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