The latest large-scale study of the prevalence shows that as many as between seven and ten percent of all children have some form of language disorder.

This corresponds to approximately two children in a class of 30.

Most are detected via screening at BVC and receive treatment by a speech therapist at a hospital.

But in connection with the start of school, many of these children are discharged from the speech therapy clinics.

- It is then required that there is someone within the school who can catch up and provide continued support, because we know that a language disorder rarely grows away, says Marika Habbe who is a specialist speech therapist at the Swedish Agency for Special Needs Education.

Schools themselves say they lack knowledge

But SVT can thus show that a large proportion of the country's schools lack access to speech therapists, who are the only ones who can diagnose language impairment.

And in several surveys, schools and municipalities around the country state that their knowledge about this problem is limited.

- Many teachers express that they do not think it feels equal for all children, says Marika Habbe.

"Needs extensive support"

When Sweden's municipalities and regions, SKR, 2018, examined the personnel situation in student health, 81 percent of the municipalities stated that they have challenges in providing support to this group.

And in a survey carried out by the Swedish Agency for Special Needs Education in the same year, more than half of the schools answered that pupils with language impairment only reach the knowledge requirements to a certain extent.

- Most of the learning is based on language and therefore these students need a very comprehensive support from both educators and speech therapists, says Marika Habbe.

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3 quick facts about language disorders in the video above.

Photo: Storyblocks