A 12-year-old sits across from a police interviewer. The allegation is read out: “You are suspected of preparatory acts for committing a robbery, theft with violence with another person, or attempted commission thereof. Is that clear?” He does not respond. The words pass him by. His silence is not recognised as a lack of understanding, but, as as Mai Fleetwood Bird’s doctoral research shows, it often is.
Fleetwood Bird studied young people in contact with the youth justice system who have speech, language and communication needs. Her research sits at the intersection of speech and language therapy and the youth justice system, an emerging field within Dutch criminal justice.
SLCN refers to difficulties with speaking, understanding and using language, and communicating effectively. It covers how a person speaks, whether they understand language, and how clearly they can express themselves in interaction with others. Speech and language therapy addresses all of these areas — from speech and voice to language comprehension and communication skills.
76.7% of detained young people have a severe language disorder
Fleetwood Bird conducted research in a youth detention centre using the same methods she previously applied in her work as a speech and language therapist. The findings were stark. While an estimated 7–12 per cent of young people in the general population have a language disorder, the proportion among detained young people rises to 90 per cent. In more than three quarters of cases (76.7 per cent), the disorder is severe.
A reality that is rarely recognised in legal practice. “Not out of unwillingness, but because many assume there is no problem. I spoke to supervisors and psychologists who said: ‘But he talks really fluently!’ Which is true: someone may speak easily, yet still have a limited vocabulary and restricted language understanding because they rely on short sentences with limited complexity,” says Fleetwood Bird.
The research shows that young people often do not realise they struggle with language. In a communication questionnaire, they generally reported no problems with speaking, finding words or understanding. Yet this self-assessment stands in sharp contrast to the test results.
According to the researcher, young people tend to overestimate their language ability precisely because they do not always recognise what they do not understand. From young people’s point of view — how they experience a police interview and what they do and do not understand — this aspect has barely been studied to date.
Young people with language needs are vulnerable in the justice process
Criminal proceedings are highly verbal and assume a level of language ability that many young people do not possess. For her research, Fleetwood Bird analysed thirty police interview recordings with young suspects. In 87 per cent of these interviews, language problems arose.
“Difficulties emerged especially when young people were asked to tell their story. Their narrative abilities fall short at that point — precisely when their own account of events is crucial,” says Fleetwood Bird.
A lack of narrative skills is sometimes called the “canary in the coal mine” of language development. Young people with language disorders or language difficulties are far less able to tell a story in chronological order. Strikingly, key details in their accounts are often missing. Their verbal responses weaken in situations where their processing and production skills are more heavily taxed.
One example from the research involves a suspect trying to explain that he did not know what he was doing that day, but struggling to express it: “I thought of my gran I thought that that that she that she my uncle mother the uncle is then that day buried.” (In Dutch: ‘Ik dach aan mijn oma ik dach dat dat dat zij dat zij mijn oom moeder de oom is dan die dag begraven.’)
Language barriers across the justice process
Language difficulties also create problems elsewhere in the criminal process. “They increase the risk that young people do not properly understand their rights, such as the caution. This lack of understanding can seriously undermine the right to a fair trial,” says Fleetwood Bird.
National, international and European rules require that children must be able to follow and understand criminal proceedings — from charge to interview — in language appropriate to their age and abilities. In practice, this is far from guaranteed. “In the Netherlands, there is no specific training on language disorders, speech and language therapists are scarcely involved, and language difficulties in youth justice cases are rarely identified. This raises the question whether young people with speech, language and communication needs can effectively participate in criminal justice, as required by child-friendly justice,” she says.
Do language problems contribute to offending?
If 90% of young people in detention experience these difficulties, does that mean that speech and language problems lead to criminal behaviour? “We should be cautious,” says Fleetwood Bird. “It is too simplistic to draw a straight line. But it is true that language problems are one of the risk factors associated with criminal behaviour.”
“In my book I use a compounding risk model, multiple factors build up over time: low socioeconomic status, school dropout, drug use, problematic home environment. Language difficulties are an underlying issue; some researchers even refer to a ‘perfect storm’, as language problems can lock young people into a vicious circle.”
Reducing reoffending and implications for practice
At present, these issues are neither recognised nor addressed in criminal justice, according to Fleetwood Bird. “Intellectual disabilities are accounted for. Mental-health problems are recognised. But language problems are often invisible. Unless someone knows what to look for. That is why I call them the ‘invisible disability’ of youth justice,” she says.
Despite the scale of the issue, the solutions are straightforward. “Once it is visible, you can act on it. You can use shorter sentences, avoid jargon, provide visual support, and check more often whether something is understood.” To achieve meaningful change, Fleetwood Bird argues that speech and language therapists must be involved in the justice process. “Young people could be screened for language difficulties before interview, and procedures and rules need to be adapted,” she says.
She also sees potential for offering speech and language therapy during youth detention itself. “International research shows that young people with a language disorder are more than twice as likely to reoffend. A language disorder is therefore a strong predictor of recidivism. Speech and language therapy could be used as an intervention to reduce the risk of returning to the justice system.”
Speech and language therapy is a paramedical profession that is already recognised and applied outside the justice chain. Children are often referred at a young age through schools or GPs.
Speech and language therapy could be used across the entire justice process — as pre-screening, during police interviews, in court as expert witnesses, in detention to reduce the risk of reoffending, and after detention as part of intervention programmes. “Speech and language therapy is a highly cost-effective intervention in many parts of the system,” says Fleetwood Bird.
In other countries, forensic speech and language therapy is an established part of criminal justice practice; in the Netherlands, this is barely the case. Yet speech, language and communication difficulties strongly shape how young people understand and navigate the justice process. Speech and language therapy can make the difference. “Anyone who takes fair legal protection seriously cannot ignore language difficulties,” concludes Fleetwood Bird.
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Forensic speech and language therapy is new ground for most criminal lawyers, but it was a natural progression for Fleetwood Bird. After successfully running six speech and language therapy practices, she decided to study law. On Friday 31 October 2025, she defended her PhD thesis, ‘Caught in Language. The importance of speech and language therapy for youth justice’. Fleetwood Bird is affiliated with Erasmus School of Law as master programme coordinator and assistant professor.
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