Moving closer to a public health model of language and learning disabilities: the role of genetics and the search for etiologies.

Continued progress in language and learning disabilities (LDs) research requires a renewed focused on issues of etiology. Genetics research forms a central tenet of such an agenda and is critical in clarifying relationships among oral language development, acquisition of literacy and mathematics, executive function skills, and comorbid conditions. For progress to be made, diversified efforts must continue to emphasize molecular and behavioral genetics (including quantitative genetics) approaches, in concert with multi-disciplinary and multi-modal projects, to provide an integrated understanding of the behavioral and biological manifestations of language and learning disabilities. Critically, increased efforts to include ethnic, socio-economic, and linguistically diverse participant samples across a range of developmental stages is required to meet the public health needs of learners in the US and across the world. Taken together, this body of work will continue to enhance our understanding of LDs and help us move toward a truly prevention based approach to language and learning disabilities.