Assessing Public Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder in Bangladesh

Bangladesh flag featuring a green field with a red circle in the center.

A hidden disorder in plain sight—bringing Developmental Language Disorder into Bangladesh’s national dialogue.

Project brief

Developmental Language Disorders (DLD), despite having a high-prevalence rate (7.4%, Tomblin et al., 1997), is an under-explored neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD). In Bangladesh, major policy decisions were made towards addressing the NDDs in the population in the recent years. However, DLD is still not recognised which implies that a large section of population remains ‘hidden’ and unserved. With an urgency towards starting a wider communication among the general population regarding DLD, the proposed project aims to explore public knowledge of language disorders (including DLD) among Bangladeshi adults. This study applies a mixed-method approach to conduct 1) a nation-wide survey (n=427) among the general population (quantitative), and 2) a semi-structured interview with parents of primary school-going children (n=10), primary school teachers (n= 10), and educators (n= 10) (qualitative). The findings will be shared with the public as well as the policymakers to mobilise efforts towards recognising DLD as an NDD in Bangladesh.

Research Team

  • Professor Asifa Sultana, Project Lead, (BRAC University, Bangladesh); E-mail: s.asifa@bracu.ac.bd
  • Dr Anita Wong, Co-Lead (University of Sydney, Australia)
  • Dr Haridhan Goswami, Co-Lead (Centre for Crime and Youth Justice Research, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)
  • Professor Md. Tanvir Hasan, Co-Lead (James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Bangladesh)
  • Shakika Rubaiat, Co-Lead (BRAC University, Bangladesh).

Project timeline: Feb 2026 to January 2027

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