SLI (Speech or Language Impairment)
What it means
A US IDEA special education category for communication disorders affecting speech and/or language. Note: in older clinical literature, SLI also referred to Specific Language Impairment, which is now generally called DLD (Developmental Language Disorder).
Term details
Category: education
Regional use: us
Last source check: July 28, 2026
Source
Check this definition against sites.ed.gov. Open the source before making health, education, funding, or legal decisions because guidance can change.
Continue learning
Browse the full autism & SEN glossary · Read source-checked autism guides