DLD and Literacy with Ashley Champ and Jaqueline Weresch

In Episode 5 of The Social Learning Road Trip, Kristen Smith and Tara Ross turn their focus to the critical connection between Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and literacy development across the school years. They are joined by Ashley Champ, Speech‑Language Pathologist, and Jacquie Weresch, Special Education Consultant, from the Upper Grand District School Board’s Special Education Literacy Team. Together, they unpack why learning to read and write involves far more than decoding and phonics, and how underlying oral language skills form the foundation for literacy success.The conversation explores how language profiles associated with DLD influence reading comprehension, vocabulary development, sentence structure, spelling, and written expression. Ashley and Jacquie explain why early oral language weaknesses are one of the strongest predictors of later reading difficulties—even for students whose decoding skills appear intact. Listeners will gain clarity on phonological processing, the overlap between DLD and learning disabilities such as dyslexia, and why language demands often expose greater challenges as students move through the grades.The episode also highlights evidence‑based instructional practices that support students with DLD and benefit all learners. Key strategies include explicit and systematic instruction, making implicit language rules explicit, increased oral rehearsal before written work, intentional read‑alouds, vocabulary and morphology instruction, visual supports, cumulative review, and scaffolding to reduce cognitive load. This episode offers practical guidance for educators and families seeking to strengthen literacy outcomes by addressing language at the core.