Oral and written communication skills of adolescents in youth justice with and without prenatal alcohol exposure

Abstract

This research investigated the communication skills of adolescents in youth detention in Western Australia (WA), a context in which fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is highly prevalent and Aboriginal young peoples are over-represented. Many adolescents were multilingual, reflecting linguistic strengths. Oral and written language difficulties were common. A high prevalence of language disorder (LD), including LD associated with FASD was identified. Speech anomalies were also identified. Speech-language-pathology services are required in youth justice in WA.