We will compare processing of verbal and visual language in children with typical language development (TD) and with developmental language disorder (DLD). This will allow for a contribution to the discussion regarding whether the underlying nature of DLD is domain specific or domain general. The nature of visual language parallel that of verbal language in that it contains content and structure. In neurophysiological studies of adults it has been demonstrated that neural processing of visual narratives strongly resembles that of language processing in that semantic violations elicited an N400, while violations of structure elicited an anterior negativity followed by a P600.

The study of visual-language processing in five TD-children (10;1-12;6) showed that violations of semantics and structure of the presented comic strip elicited ERP-effects that could be differentiated. By including this paradigm to the study of DLD-children we will enable a comparison between their neurophysiological processing of verbal language and visual language. We expect similar processing in both domains and that both differ from that of TD-children. These results could impact the understanding of DLD and the development of interventions.