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#DLDday

Purdue’s Unfinished “P” statue will light up purple to raise awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) for international #DLDday on Friday, October 20, 2023!

Developmental Language Disorder is a hidden but common lifelong disability that affects 1 in 14 people causing difficulties understanding and using language for no known reason.

The 2023 DLDDAY 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 of Developmental Language Disorder (RADLD), the organization that coordinates international #DLDday are advocating for increased recognition and support for people with DLD around the world. 

“People with DLD are 6 times more likely to suffer from anxiety and 3 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,” said Stephen Parsons, Chairperson of RADLD.

This year, the world is lighting up purple and yellow to boost awareness of DLD globally. RADLD can confirm that more than 80 landmarks are scheduled to shine bright on or around Friday 20 October 2023.

Head to the Unfinished “P” by Memorial Mall on Friday, October 20th as it lights up in purple to raise awareness of DLD.

At Purdue, DLD is studied in several labs in the SLHS department:

Child Language Research Lab (PI: Dr. Laurence Leonard)

Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (PI: Dr. Natalya Kaganovich)

Language Learning and Meaning Acquisition Lab (PI: Dr. Arielle Borovsky)

Child Phonology Lab (PI: Dr. Francoise Brosseau-Lapre)

Learn more about DLDDAY, DLD & RADLD at: