ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the meaning of the term specific in specific language impairment (SLI) in a broader way than is customary. Usually this term denotes the specificity of the impairment within the individual child. SLI has been defined as the atypical development of language that cannot be attributed to other disabling factors such as hearing impairment, emotional, neurological, or intellectual deficits (Leonard, 1998). In the case of specific language impairment, specific has been used to signify the definition of this impairment by exclusionary criteria (see also de Villiers, chap. 17 in this volume).
