Language difficulties can hinder young children’s social autonomy

By Virginie Soffer Mar 9th, 2026

In 5 seconds Preschoolers with developmental language disorder depend more on adults to navigate social interactions, such as joining in games and resolving conflicts.

When considering the challenges faced by children with developmental language disorder (DLD), it's natural to think of difficulties they have in understanding and using language. What tends to get overlooked, however, is how the disorder impacts how their functioning in society.

As early as preschool, some children need extra help to navigate social interactions hindered by language difficulties. This observation inspired a recent study by assistant clinical professor Marylène Dionne and associate professor Stefano Rezzonico, both at Université de Montréal’s School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.

Dionne and Rezzonico studied 63 French-speaking three- to five-year olds attending Montreal daycares, 12 of whom were identified as having DLD.

Affecting roughly seven per cent of children starting school, DLD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that mainly affects language skills. It is not caused by deafness, autism or intellectual disability.

“The disorder affects not only pronunciation, vocabulary, sentence structure and comprehension, but also the social use of language,” explained Dionne, a speech therapist by training.

Significant language difficulties

For their comparative study, Dionne and Rezzonico assessed the children’s language skills and social competence using parent and educator questionnaires and semi-structured play activities with the children.

In one exercise, the child was asked to recount a real-life experience on a given topic, such as helping an injured child, dealing with a broken toy or making a mess during an art project. The experimenter then asked the child questions and graded various aspects of their language use, including lexical diversity, morphosyntax, pragmatics and personal narrative.

Overall, the study showed significant language difficulties in the children with DLD. For example, they scored significantly lower than children without DLD on six measures: type of words used, questions/comments on self or others, talk in activities with others, interest in words and language, adapting conversation to others, and building longer sentences and stories.

Marylène Dionne, assistant clinical professor at Université de Montréal’s School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Photo : Marylène Dionne

Basic social skills intact

The educators perceived the children with DLD as generally well-adjusted, with good prosocial skills: they cooperated well, followed rules, managed their emotions and interacted without significant disruptive behaviour.

There were no significant differences between the two groups of children in aggression, opposition, selfishness or hyperactivity. In fact, some children with DLD displayed comparable or slightly superior profiles in areas such as prosociality (behaving for others' benefit).

So, unlike in older children or adolescents with DLD, social difficulties in preschoolers are not yet pervasive. “We saw that they had the same types of difficulties as older children, but to a lesser extent,” said Dionne.

Yet this apparent normality conceals a deeper challenge in navigating social life—one that hasn’t yet reached the clinical threshold, she added.

Stefano Rezzonico, associate professor at Université de Montréal’s School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Photo : Stefano Rezzonico

Greater dependency on educators

The researchers found that the children with DLD were less socially independent. They relied more on their educators to help them manage relationships, including joining games, resolving conflicts, expressing disagreement and explaining situations.

In short, while the preschoolers with DLD did not necessarily exhibit problematic behaviours, they struggled to manage social interactions on their own.

“These children needed adults to help orchestrate their relationships,” said Rezzonico. Furthermore, such dependence was sometimes accompanied by internalized signs such as anxiety, withdrawal and hesitation, although these effects were relatively mild.

Window of opportunity

“In a way, it’s a pleasant surprise to see that the difficulties are less significant at this age,” said Rezzonico. “It tells us that we can intervene early and hopefully prevent more significant difficulties later on.”

These findings are consistent with what is now known about DLD, namely that it is not a social or emotional disorder per se. Rather, language remains the primary difficulty, though vulnerabilities in other areas, such as social and neurocognitive skills, may also be present.

Social difficulties emerge mainly when communication demands exceed a child’s resources. At preschool age, these demands are relatively modest. But as interactions become more complex at school and during adolescence, the difficulties are likely to intensify.

Early childhood thus appears to be a critical window of opportunity.

“The vulnerabilities are there, but they haven’t crystallized yet,” explained Dionne. “This is exactly the moment when we can take action.”

Since pragmatic skills are closely linked to social competence, early detection can be helped by encouraging conversation, supporting storytelling and helping children recount their experiences and adjust their speech to listeners.

“Children can have a good vocabulary and form correct sentences, yet still struggle to recount their day,” pointed out Dionne. “If this affects their relationships or makes them more anxious or dependent, it’s important to consult a speech and language therapist early to address any difficulties before they worsen.”