LAUSR

PURPOSE This study compared Miranda Rights comprehension of adolescents with developmental language disorder (DLD) and their typically developing (TD) peers. METHOD Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights (Grisso, 1998) was administered to 20 adolescents with DLD and 20 age-matched TD peers. RESULTS The DLD group exhibited significantly greater difficulty in understanding and appreciating Miranda Rights than their TD peers. Adolescents with DLD were 7 times more likely to be at risk of failing to sufficiently understand the Miranda warnings than adolescents in the TD group. DISCUSSION Adolescents with DLD are particularly vulnerable to failing to understand Miranda Rights and the consequences of waiving them. Future work should determine if there is a link between difficulty comprehending legal rights and the high prevalence of adolescents with language disorder in juvenile detention facilities.