Number skills and knowledge in children with specific language impairment

The number skills of groups of 7- to 9-year-old children with specific language impairment (SLI) attending mainstream or special schools were compared with an age and nonverbal reasoning matched group (age control [AC]) and with a younger group matched on oral language comprehension. The SLI groups performed below the AC group on every skill. They also showed lower working memory functioning and had received lower levels of instruction. Nonverbal reasoning, working memory functioning, language comprehension, and instruction accounted for individual variation in number skills to differing extents depending on the skill. These factors did not explain the differences between SLI and AC groups on most skills.