Language disorders: gender stereotypes affect diagnosis in young girls

While 4 to 5% of children in France seem to be affected by a developmental language disorder (DYS difficulty, etc.), a new Spanish study could well invite us to review this figure. The sexist myths that are affixed to the communication of little girls and that of little boys would indeed disturb the way in which they are perceived and would blur the signals to be detected, especially in female subjects. This is the finding of a team of experts from the Interuniversity Research Group on Cognition and Language of the Faculty of Psychology of Catalonia.

Clichés on the differences between girls and boys who have a hard life

Developmental language disorder is a problem involving the acquisition and development of language. Children with this condition have difficulty speaking, communicating, understanding and expressing themselves. This disorder is also considered “invisible” because the markers of the disease are difficult to diagnose and understand by professionals and those close to the child. Additionally, some of these issues can be compounded by gender stereotypes. The research team has listed a dozen of them, widely shared (but without any basis) such as:

• Girls have better communication skills;
• Boys say what they know and girls say what others want to hear;
• Girls like to talk more in private situations;
• Girls can speak little, in a soft and pleasant manner, and boys are able to speak confidently;
• Girls are emotional, empathetic and other-oriented, especially boys. Boys, on the other hand, don’t feel as many emotions. Etc.

“In this study, we examined how gender stereotypes influence important variables in the study of developmental language disordersuch as language and the socio-emotional sphere, based on the importance of working from a feminist perspective in science and in approaching the developmental language disorder“said Nadia Ahufinger, an expert at the University of Barcelona, ​​and author of the research.

An androcentric vision, which leads to under-diagnosis of girls

In their review, the experts argue that gender stereotypes have led to androcentric detection and assessment of developmental language disorders. This situation has led to a greater increase in cases of detection of this type of disorder in boys than in girls, since boys tend to exhibit more disruptive behaviors. In fact, studies of this disorder have so far suffered from an overrepresentation of boys in samples, and research may or may not identify or address the needs of girls.

“The gender stereotype stems from the belief, still prevalent even today, that girls/women are emotional and empathetic individuals who are oriented towards others, and in particular boys/men, and boys/men are rational individuals, oriented towards their own goals and achievements”, said Dr. Aguilera, co-author. In the opinion of the researchers, it is therefore necessary to take into account the fact that girls may have language difficulties in the same way as boys, but that they express them in a different way than their male counterparts. This aspect can directly lead to under-diagnosis of girls and imbalances in the design of the intervention.

Busting Myths to Improve Diagnosis and Therapies

In order to improve the diagnosis and the required therapies, the experts have developed several research and therapy proposals that represent girls and boys equally and include good practices. Naturally, explanations of false myths related to gender stereotypes must be included in these protocols, and widespread and deeply rooted ideas about gender roles must be refuted.