ABSTRACT
Speech and language therapy (SLT) is a young discipline built progressively and often intuitively thanks to the clinical genius of some practitioners. It has also been enriched by the knowledge of many other disciplines, in particular medicine but also psychology, language and learning sciences. In France, SLTs are the main profession in charge of intervention services for children with developmental language disorder. In France, some standardized tests are used to evaluate oral language development. SLTs are using more experience and expert practitioner knowledge rather than knowledge based on research. There are important difficulties in the coordination, organization and links between professionals as well as between patients and professionals, which lead to significant geographical and socio-economic disparities in access to services. Diagnosis and remediation are sometimes heterogeneous: different professionals (paediatricians, child psychiatrists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, psychomotor specialists) can sometimes intervene without much coordination of the therapy.
