ABSTRACT
The nature of the communication disorder in children with pragmatic language impairment (PLI) has three main components: pragmatic deficits, structural language deficits and social interaction deficits. The speech-language practitioner may supplement formal testing of language with informal procedures such as observation of narrative constriction and understanding of inference in stories. Assessment of the communication of the child with PLI is an expert and specialist undertaking. PLI is a type of developmental language impairment in which there is disproportionate difficulty with pragmatics and social communication compared to the structural aspects of language such as grammar and vocabulary. Children with PLI show a range of pragmatic impairment and language impairment features and may have a history of autistic traits. Pragmatic competence is viewed as part of an integrated model in which language expression and comprehension skills contribute to social communication and to social interaction which, in turn, contribute to peer interactions, friendships, and social well-being.
