Browsing by Subject "KEV"

Aim: An undiagnosed language learning disability, such as SLI (specific language impairment), may play a role in an adult immigrant's learning problems. There is no previous research in Finland on referrals to assessment or the assessment process of adult immigrants based on symptoms of SLI. The purpose of this study was to find out how SLI symptoms are recognized in adult immigrants, how are referrals for assessment being made and what kind of specific issues are related to these assessments. Methods: The methods in this study are a short email survey and semi-structured interviews. The survey and the interviews were carried out between March 2016 and Ferbruary 2017. The survey area covered the whole country, but all but one of the interviews were carried out in three regions of Southern Finland. The research material consists of the email responses from 27 health care professionals and one teacher as well as the interviews of two L2 teachers, two adult immigrants, two SLTs and one neurologist. The material was analyzed with theory-bound content analysis. Results and conclusions: The results show that adult immigrants are rarely referred to assessment based on symptoms of SLI. There is no uniform practice in referring adult immigrants to an SLP. Health care professionals see diagnosing an SLI in adult immigrants as problematic, since a person's learning abilities may be affected by a number of other background factors besides an SLI. L2 teachers have a crucial role in recognizing verbal learning disabilities in adult immigrants as well as in referring them to assessment. Special knowledge gained on learning disabilities helps them in recognizing verbal learning disabilities. However, recognizing the problem and referring a person to assessment may be delayed due to lack of background information, lack of information about assessment opportunities and immigrants not being open about their learning difficulties. The composition of the team involved in the assessment process may vary, and there is no harmonised assessing protocol to follow. The use of assessment methods is largely based on the clinicians' own clinical experience. A clinical interview is an important assessment method. An interpreter also plays a vital role in the assessment, but the use of an interpreter involves challenges of its own.