The reading and oral language scores of 110 children with a specific reading disability (SRD)
and 102 children with a specific language impairment (SLI) indicated that approximately
53% of children with an SRD and children with an SLI could be equally classified as having
an SRD or an SLI, 55% of children with an SRD have impaired oral language, and 51% of
children with an SLI have a reading disability. Finding that a large percentage of children
can be equally classified as SRD or SLI has repercussions for the criteria used to define an
SRD, for conceptualising subgroups of learning disability, and for estimates of the incidence
of SRD. Further, it highlights the need for future studies to assess both the reading and oral
language abilities of SRD and SLI participants to determine how specifically impaired and
homogeneous samples really are.