ABSTRACT
Services for children with developmental language disorder (DLD) in Iceland were first provided in the second half of the nineteenth century when they were associated with services for deaf children. A few Icelandic-speaking children with DLD went to Denmark to the Speech Institute in Copenhagen for speech therapy. The contract between Icelandic Health Insurance and Speech and language therapists (SLT) states that children are allowed to receive 20–35 sessions each year. The SLTs working for local authorities have less opportunity to provide direct therapy and the dosage of therapy is minimal, a few sessions over a short period. The SLTs assess the child and based on the severity of the outcome determine if the child falls within the benchmark of services from the educational system or health system. New screening tools have to be developed and teachers need training in using them, which would make it possible to identify children with DLD at different ages.
