Speech and language videos and resources

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)

Talking is not the only way to communicate. There are lots of ways you and your child or young person can communicate.

• Introduction to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)

  Video transcript

  >> Female narrator: Welcome to this video about Augmentative and Alternative Communication, often shortened to AAC.

  By watching this video, you will:

  • gain an overview of what AAC is
  • learn what our top tips are for using AAC

  AAC can come in lots of forms.

  A Speech and Language Therapist may recommend using:

  • individual symbols 
  • signing 
  • objects 
  • activity boards
  • core boards
  • communication boards 
  • a communication book
  • switches
  • a Voice Output Communication Aid, often shortened to VOCA

  We need to learn with the AAC user

  When we use AAC, we have to learn what the symbols or signs mean as well as the individual. It is almost like learning a different language!

  Look at this picture; do you know what these symbols mean?

  It is our job as a communication partner to model the words alongside the symbols or signs.

  Did you know what the symbols meant?

  [pause]

  The research tells us that 89% of children and young people had an increase in using language, that is, talking, after implementing AAC. None of the AAC users involved in the research lost any of their spoken language skills.

  AAC does not stop verbal communication. People will use verbal communication if they can, as this can be the most efficient way of communicating for those who have functional skills. AAC augments communication, which means it adds to it; it does not take away any other skills.

  Now we are going to look at our top tips for using AAC.

  Firstly, AAC needs to be seen and heard.

  An AAC user will have to hear words, and see you pointing to the symbols, or using signs lots of times, before being able to use them themselves.

  It is important that we show individuals how to use symbols and signs lots of times, in lots of different situations.

  We should be modelling for at least 18 months before expecting them to start using their AAC more effectively.

  The more someone hears and sees a word or symbol or sign being used, the more likely they will use it themselves.

  Talk and use AAC

  It is important we keep talking whilst using AAC.

  For example if we are signing to child or young person and want to sing a song, we should pick out the key words to sign as we sing.

  If you are using symbols, remember to talk and point. Again, pick out the key words. You can start with one word. For example, if you are at the park, you can say “Look a duck!” and point to the ‘look’ symbol. The actual duck is already there for you to point to!

  When you are using AAC, pause to see if the individual wants to communicate with you. This does not have to be by using AAC; it could be a different communication method such as a smile to show enjoyment, or pointing to something.

  It is important we do not put pressure on someone to use AAC. This can make it feel like work or stop them from wanting to use it for fun and enjoyable interactions. Remember, it should be a conversation, not a test, so try not to ‘force’ them to point to or sign things.

  Like we said before, it can take some time for someone to feel confident to use AAC, so if they do not initially respond, keep modelling!

  Communicating is more than requesting.

  Use the AAC for more than just requesting things. We communicate for lots of different reasons for example:

  • Greeting
  • Commenting
  • Protesting
  • Questioning
  • Describing

  Make sure the AAC user is hearing and seeing these types of language use.

  Use a variety of AAC

  We can use AAC alongside other forms of communication, and it is really useful to do so. If someone speaking cannot find the word they want to use in their head, they often use other strategies such as pointing or gesturing. This is the same for an AAC user.

  Some example of other types of AAC include:

  • Pointing
  • Gesturing
  • Using objects
  • Photos
  • Songs
  • Written words
  • Spoken words

  It is OK to make mistakes

  AAC users need to see that we all make mistakes. Take this as an opportunity to share humour, and show them it is OK to make mistakes!

  Show your working! The AAC user needs to see how you find things and problem-solve. You can say "I'm looking” or “I’m thinking" to keep their engagement. 

  Use AAC all day and everywhere

  If you are using symbols, a communication book or boards, or activity boards, where possible always keep AAC around the user so it is there for you to use it with them.

  At home or school, keep the AAC with the user or in a consistent place so they know where it is when they want to use it.

  Get everyone involved

  As we grow up, we learn language from lots of different people.

  Ask siblings, family members, school or setting staff, professionals, and friends to watch this video and then show them how to use the AAC.

  The more normal and used the AAC is, the more likely the individual will be to use it. We all communicate in different ways, so it is important to show AAC users that we do this, and they can choose how they would like to communicate or use AAC.

  Lastly, Have fun!

  It is good to have fun with AAC! In fact, we should target this.

  Expand from choice making around routines to thinking about what motivates the user.

  Use the AAC system with them to support their understanding of your spoken language.

  AAC users are more likely to use their system if communication is fun!

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

  The resources section has lots of useful information for supporting speech, language and communication needs and the training section hosts a range of free to access to videos as well bookable workshops.

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you

• Objects of reference

  Video transcript

  >> Laura: Hello, my name is Laura, and I am a Support Practitioner working with Bedfordshire Community Health Services NHS Speech and Language Therapy team.

  You’ve probably come to this video because a speech and language therapist has recommended that you use objects of reference to support your child’s understanding. Objects of reference are objects used to represent people, places or activities. When used consistently over time children will begin to form an understanding of what the object represents. We use objects of reference to support a child to understand what’s happening in their environment or happening next in their day and transition between activities.

  First you need to identify an activity that your child does regularly every day. For example, bathtime, bedtime, mealtime going to Nursery. We start with familiar activities so that the child can build up an association between the activity and object. Once we’ve got that in place we would then begin to use the approach for unfamiliar or new activities for your child. Then we need to identify a meaningful personal object to represent that activity, person or event to your child.

  Here are some things to consider when choosing your objects of reference

  Number 1: The object must be relevant to your child. They have to be able to form an association between the activity and the object. And the object might differ from child to child. For example, for one child it might be the smell of their shampoo that reminds them of bathtime while for another it may be their favourite bath toy.

  Number 2: You can use the whole object for example a cup to represent a drink, or you can use part of the object for example part of the car seat belt for going out for a drive.

  Number 3: Think multisensory, the child can build a better mental picture of an object if they can hold it, see it, smell it may be even hear it. For example, if you’re going to Grandma’s house it could be the smell of her perfume or if you’re going out in the car, it could be a fan or the feel of the wind passing through the window or the feel of the seat belt as mentioned before or the music they always listen to in the car. Just remember if your child has a visual impairment think about the other senses, that they can use to explore the object. Think about the texture sound and the smell to support their understanding. also if your child has a  dislike for certain sounds or smells or textures try and avoid these when choosing your objects.

  Number 4: Avoid using the actual object that is used in the activity. For example, if its the object of reference for drink have a drink ready made in their usual cup. Show them the object of reference cup and then immediately give them the cup with the drink in it. This is because we always want the object of reference to be available to the child but if its just had a drink in it and its going in the dishwasher then it’s no longer available.

  5 top tips for using your Objects of Reference

  1. The object must be presented immediately before the activity happens.
  2. The same object must be used every time you do that activity to give your child the best opportunity of building up that association.
  3. The object must be presented in the same way every time.
  4. Let your child handle the object to build up a better mental picture of the object
  5. The object should be kept near your child throughout the duration of the activity.

  We would suggest that you start with three objects of reference for your child. Once they are showing awareness and or understanding of the object, for example they look at the object or when the object is presented they go towards the area in which that activity is going to happen, then we would look at bringing in some more objects for them.  

  Your child’s objects of reference should be kept in the same place that is accessible for them. This is to give them the opportunity to bring the items to you to request if they want to do a certain activity, once they’ve got that understanding of what the objects represent.

  Photos can also be used in this way and this is known as photos of reference. The object will be replaced by a photo and in choosing and using your photos of reference you follow the same rules for objects of reference. If photos are appropriate for your child your Speech and Language Therapist will discuss this with you.

  The reason we begin with objects is because objects are easier to understand and give that multi sensory approach.

  If you need any further support with implementing objects of reference for your child please contact your speech and language therapy department. Thanks for watching.

• How to make a choice board

  Video transcript

  Slide 1: Choice Boards. 

  >> Male Narrator: Welcome to this video about choice boards. 

  By watching this video, you will:

  • know when to use choice boards
  • will have explored how you can make one for a child or young person.

  Choice boards are a great way of showing your child the power of communication – to make a choice about something that they really want.

  A choice board is a way to visually present options to a child within an activity or a situation.

  It is a visual represented by real objects, photos, symbols, or text.

  We use choice boards to support spoken language for example, “shall we play with bricks or cars?”

  A visual choice board can make the choices more concrete and help children understand more easily.

  For children who have limited expressive language skills and/or are developing their spoken language skills, choice boards allow them to express their choice. They may do this by reaching for their preferred object or pointing to a photo or symbol.

  So, where do you start?

  First, identify what choices are meaningful to the child or young person, for example, preferred activities, favourite foods or drink or places. It is important to choose play activities closely linked to the child’s interests. That could be bubbles, a tea party, train track or even doing each other's makeup or hair. 

  Think about how you can use choice boards in a range of contexts or situations. Try to avoid just having choice boards around one activity or routine for example mealtimes. This gives the child the opportunity to communicate in more situations.

  Once you have decided on the meaningful activities then take photos of the item or activity.

  Try to take these with a white or plain background so the item stands out.

  You could also use logos from a favourite character such as Paw Patrol or Spiderman or cut logos from favourite food packaging such as crisps or cereal.

  The next step is to print the photos.

  You want the choice board to be accessible so aim for the photos to be about the size shown on screen 6-8 photos per A4 page is ideal.

  Although not essential, it can be beneficial to laminate the pictures and the choice board so that they last longer. You can use Velcro or blue tack to help keep the photos in place – but again this is not essential.

  Sometimes you might need to decrease the number of choices. For example if a child normally chooses from 8 options but they are distressed or dysregulated, it may be beneficial to present them with 2 to 4 choices during that time.

  Present the symbol, object or photo choices whilst verbally labelling and pointing to them. When the child indicates their preference, the adult should verbally label the item again, and immediately give the object to the child. You could start by introducing symbols or photos alongside a single activity. It is important to show the pictures alongside the activity.

  >> Female narrator: Let’s choose our snack. Biscuits, cheddars, biscuits, cheddars. Choose.

  >> Male narrator: If the child does not respond to the photos, then offer them the objects as choices. If, or when they indicate their choice toward an object, then reinforce their choice by directing their attention to the photo representation and immediately give them the object.

  When verbally labelling the item, we can build in pauses to provide an opportunity for the child to imitate to the word if they want to, however, we should not actively attempt to get them to copy our words.

  As the child gets more comfortable or confident with the system you can add photos and build on the number of choices. 

  >> Female narrator: Let’s choose what we’re going to play with. Tambourine. Cups. Bubbles

  [Pause]

  >> Male narrator: Always reinforce the choice.

  >> Female narrator: Bubbles!

  Here are some top tips for using a choice board

  1. Create opportunities for communication. Think about times in the child’s day where there are opportunities for requesting, for example requesting more snack, requesting to be pushed on the swing, requesting a toy from the shelf.
  2. Use the board consistently. The more you use the board to support communication, the more familiar the child will become with the strategy and the more their understanding of symbols and alternative forms of communication will develop.
  3. The child needs to have lots of opportunities to learn how to use their choice board in a meaningful way. They may not understand straight away; this is all a part of learning.
  4. Encourage use of the board through modelling it yourself. Do not ‘test’ the child using the board as this could deter them from using it. For example, do not ask your child to ‘find symbol X’ or to ‘point to symbol Y’.  
  5. Equally we should never physically move the child’s hand or finger to point to the board. This could deter them from using the board and will not necessarily help their understanding of the symbols. Accept a total communication approach – for example, if the child doesn’t point with their finger but uses their eyes, this is totally fine.
  6. Respond to every use of a symbol. If the child points to a photo or object by accident, you should still respond to them as if it was meaningful. For example, if they point to the ‘bubbles’, but you know that they want the ‘cups’, you should verbally label ‘bubbles’ and give it to them. This helps the child understand the meaning behind using their communication board.

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

  The resources section has lots of useful information for supporting speech, language and communication needs and the training section hosts a range of free to access to videos as well bookable workshops.

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you

• Introduction to object exchange

  Video transcript

  Welcome to this video which will support you to introduce object exchange with your child. 
  Communication is much more than using words, much of it is non-verbal. One example of non-verbal interaction is to pass something to another person to show that you want it.

  Here we see Thomas make a request for the balloon by passing the container to me. He is able to choose that he wants the balloon and pass it to me to request it. This skill is called Object Exchange. 

  This is a valuable skill to develop in its own right as the child is able to get their needs met and relate more to others around them. It’s also important because you know that interacting more means that spoken language is more likely to develop. The more interaction you have the more likely your child will use meaningful language. It is typical for children to make requests repeatedly during the day even if they do not use spoken language, they should pass you an object to show that they want it.

  For some children interaction with others is difficult and they need support to become more interactive. One aspect of interaction is using object exchange, and some children will need help to learn to do this. 

  Here we see another child who is not sure how to make a request. The child shows an interest in the item but only picks up the container and shakes it. They may have tried to open it themselves for a prolonged time or pick it up and then throw it. They don’t know to pass the object to request the item. 

  If the child is not able to pass objects to make requests, then they need support to develop the skill. How do we do this? You will need the child, two adults, a see-through container the child cannot open and something that is really motivating for the child that can go in the container a favourite toy or favourite snack. 

  One: Have the motivator ready in a see-through container. 
  Two: Give the child a free go, so give them a taste of the chocolate or a small go with the toy.
  Three: Put the item, the motivator, into the container and put the lid on firmly and place it in front of the child with you sitting in front of them.
  Four: Wait for the child to show an interest in the container by looking reaching or touching.
  Five: If the child does not pass the container, you will need your second adult to be the silent prompter.

  In this video you can see the child shows an interest in the object by picking it up. They may even just look to or reach for the object to show an interest. The silent prompter’s role is to help them pickup the object and pass it to the second adult, but they must wait for the child to show an interest in the object first. The silent prompter doesn’t speak. As you repeat the object exchange process the silent prompter should aim to reduce how much they are helping the child to pass the object. Continue to do this until the child can pass the object on their own.

  Things to remember and think about.

  • Make sure you use motivating objects and make sure the containers are see-through and that the child can't open the container themselves.
  • Start off by being face to face with your child.
  • Make sure you give them a free go with the item. That's the motivator, so a taste of the snack or a little go with the toy. 
    (Balloon, balloon)
  • Do not prompt your child by pointing or telling them to pass you the item.
  • Name the item as they pass it and use one word.
  • Don't be tempted to say well done, or thank you, or open. We want the child to learn the functional word, the name of the motivating item, so if it's chocolate, just name ‘chocolate’ as they pass it to you.
  • The silent prompter must only physically help them move the container. They must not speak, and the silent prompter gradually reduces the amount of prompting.
    (Balloon… balloon… ready… go)

  If the child throws the container at you or doesn’t actually put it into your hand go back to having a silent prompter to help them pass it fully to the person receiving the container. If the child puts your hand on the container rather than passing it to you, go back to having a silent prompter.

  If your child needs support to carry out object exchange remember you will need to have two adults present. You cannot be the person receiving the object and the silent prompter at the same time.

• Introduction to signing

  You can also watch a video about getting started with Makaton.

Social communication and interaction skills

This series of videos focusing on social communication. There are techniques and strategies to help children and young people.

• Introduction to social communication

  Video transcript

  Welcome to this introductory video about social communication.

  In this short video, we will be talking about what social communication is and some of the different areas of social communication.

  Put simply, social communication is communication as it happens between different people and how different people relate to each other. 

  Social communication includes the way language is used to interact with other people in a range of social situations.

  Communication includes understanding and using language, non-verbal communication and speech. Non-verbal communication means communication that doesn't involve speech.

  Social communication is also part of communication. Social communication includes:

  • imagining other people's perspective, for example, being able to consider what another person may be thinking or feeling
  • having conversations
  • relating to people in different ways, For example, changing your communication when you speak to a teacher as opposed to a friend
  • and communicating for many different reasons, which will be discussed further on in this video.

  Here are some of the areas of social communication where children and young people may present differently. 

  Children and young people may have difficulty understanding body language. For example, understanding what someone may mean by the way they're standing or what they're communicating when they cross their arms.

  They may also have difficulty understanding gestures. For example, pointing at things or gestures we might make with our hands to describe things.

  They may have difficulty working out how someone is feeling from the expression on their face.

  They may use unusual body language gestures or facial expressions themselves, or they may not choose many gestures at all.

  They may also use a tone of voice that is unusual. As a result, other people may find it hard to understand what they're expressing and how they're feeling.

  Children and young people may interpret social expectations in a different way.

  They may take a different approach to having conversations. For example, they may find it hard to introduce particular topics into a conversation, or they may suddenly start talking about a topic that seems completely unrelated to the one everyone was talking about just a moment ago.

  They may not give as much information as the other person feels is needed for them to follow the conversation, or they may talk a lot, giving much more information than the other person was expecting.

  Taking turns with other people is another common difficulty. 

  Some children and young people may use echolalia – this means repeating language that they hear – either what people say to them, or language from videos, tv, films, or games.

  Children and young people may interpret language differently. For example, sarcasm, jokes or idioms, such as “I was over the moon about it”, or “that's a pain”.

  These aren't bad or negative things in themselves, but they may cause difficulties when trying to have conversations with other people. 

  Children need to communicate for a range of reasons. You might consider supporting the child in areas such as:

  • using greetings to acknowledge the other person or start an interaction
  • getting another person's attention, for example, by waving or calling out to them
  • asking for things you want or need
  • sharing information. For example, talking about your day or something you have done
  • describing emotions, for example, to share when you are excited or feeling angry
  • seeking comfort when you are upset

  You could also include

  • getting permission, for example, to leave the classroom
  • showing empathy. This means understanding how others might feel.
  • keeping a conversation going. For example, taking turns in a conversation and spotting a good time to ask a question or add a comment.
  • negotiating. For example, when arranging how to play a game on the playground.
  • clarifying information when you have not understood. 

  When we support children, we are not trying to change them. The emphasis should be on the adults adapting their communication style and the environment to promote social communication.

  If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information, you can:

  Watch the other videos on our websites about how to support social communication, comic strip conversations and social stories, emotional regulation and zones of regulation.

  Access the neurodiversity support pack by following the link on the screen.

  Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school.

  For more information on supporting children and young people's speech and language needs, please visit our website by following the link shown on the screen.

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication. 

  Thank you.

• How to support social communcation

  Video transcript

  >> Narrator: Welcome to this introductory video about how to support social communication. 

  In this short video, we will learn how to make activities desirable, meaningful, and predictable.

  It is useful to think about how the children and young people we work with may experience the world, and how this links to their social communication.

  For some children, social information may not be as motivating as non-social information. For example, they might be very motivated to learn words about their favourite objects or subjects, but less motivated to learn social language, such as people’s names, or words for actions (for example share, open, give, come). Understanding social information can be challenging for some children. 

  Social communication needs to relate directly to the things that are important for the child. It needs to relate to something that the child wants or is motivated by.

  This will make social communication desirable and meaningful. 

  Here are some strategies for making sure activities are desirable and meaningful for the child:

  Likes and interests. Making communication desirable means making activities fun and enjoyable. Making communication meaningful means using things that the child likes. This is particularly important for activities that involve interacting with other people – as this will help the child to associate social interaction with fun. For example, if they are interested in different kinds of transport, you could use this as part of an activity about giving and following instructions. You could also use the child’s interests as the basis for a social group where they can use their social communication and social interaction skills with others who share the same interest.

  Modify sensory aspects of the activity and environment. It’s often helpful to think about the impact of any sensory sensitivities and make any necessary adaptations – think about things like noise, space, light and so on. Giving movement breaks in between sitting down or standing still may help the child maintain concentration and might help them with their sensory needs.

  Adjust the difficulty of the task and use developmentally appropriate materials, so that it is an achievable jump from what the child can already do. Try to use materials that are adapted to the child’s age and their stage of development.  Perhaps the child can already ask familiar adults for help but struggles to ask unfamiliar adults for help. Making the jump between the two skills may involve opportunities for rehearsal, observation, and practise.

  Adjust the group size to allow successful interaction. For example, when the child is learning the activity, you could do it with just one other child, and then add another child when they know the activity well.

  Social situations may be confusing or stressful for the child. Providing predictability can help them to navigate social situations with more confidence.

  Predictability enables a child to know what to expect and increases the chance of success. For example, by learning the routines and norms of a classroom, children can arrive on time, follow the rules, and engage in learning and social interactions.

  Predictability is also essential for building solid relationships. When you know what to expect from someone, you can better understand who they are and what they can offer. This allows you to build a stronger connection with them.

  Here are some strategies on how to make activities more predictable.

  Use Visual support. This is often helpful for children with social communication difficulties. For example, you can use pictures, written words, timelines, charts, and checklists to structure interactions, show steps and help with transitions.

  Have a clear beginning and end, showing a completed example.

  Model language that the child can use in social contexts, for example “my turn” or “can I play?”.

  Modify your language to the child’s language level. For example, if they are using single words then you can use 1-2-word phrases. 

  If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

  Watch the other videos on our website including introduction to social communication, comic strip conversations, and social stories, emotional regulation, and zones of regulation.

  Access the Neurodiversity Support Pack.

  Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school.

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you!

• Emotional regulation

  Video transcript

  >> Narrator: Welcome to this video on emotional regulation.

  During this video, you will learn what emotional regulation is and some key strategies for supporting emotional regulation.

  Emotional regulation is how people respond to and manage their emotional state. It is what we do to alert or soothe ourselves and how we seek support.

  Managing our emotional state is important because it helps us to stay calm. Being able to regulate ourselves allows us to participate in daily activities and maintain a positive sense of wellbeing. It can also help us to interact and communicate with others. 

  Children with social communication difficulties may need more support to find out which strategies work best for them. For a child, there is always a reason behind their behaviour. When children present with behaviours that adults find challenging, the child is often communicating a need that they are having difficulty expressing, in a way that we would expect or prefer.

  The needs could be communication, for example, when learning becomes too difficult for the child, or sensory for example if they feel the need to move but are prevented from doing so.  

  Therefore, we must tune into the child and work together to figure out what they are trying to communicate. When a child needs help regulating their emotions, they benefit from a collaborative approach across home, school, and services, such as, speech and language therapy.

  Think about why the child might be carrying out a particular behaviour.

  Whilst doing this, think about the environment; what happened before this behaviour, what time of day it is, who or what is around the child, and how often this happens? Thinking about whether there are any patterns to their behaviour can be useful to recognise triggers and use strategies to reduce an escalation of these behaviours. Looking for these patterns could also highlight any areas of development that need further support or adaptations.

  To regulate ourselves, we all use strategies. These strategies are often found by copying other people and finding out which ones work best for us. For example, going for a walk when we feel sad, taking some deep breaths when we are feeling angry, exercising when we feel overwhelmed, or talking to a friend when we are upset.

  It is key to have knowledge of different strategies to support the child with their emotional regulation. Sensory calming strategies, such as, deep pressure may be useful for some children. Thinking strategies, such as, assessing the size of the problem and discussing responses may also be effective. It is important for the child to know which thinking and which sensory strategies are effective for them.

  Acknowledging the child’s emotional needs and providing support can ensure their feelings are being understood. This could be done though verbalising their feelings or using visuals such as, emotion boards, so the child can share how they are feeling. When dysregulated, we all find it more difficult to communicate our thoughts and feelings clearly. Having readily accessible visual support can help a child to identify and express their thoughts and feelings. Visual supports can also be used when the child is in a calm state to help them reflect on periods of emotional dysregulation.

  This also makes social situations more predictable, as they may otherwise be confusing or stressful for your child. Your child might not like it when they don’t know what’s going to happen next.  Providing as much predictability as possible when supporting your child’s social communication and social interactions can be very helpful. It can help them to navigate social situations with more confidence.

  Please refer to the advice sheet on our website about emotional strategy cards for more information.

  Labelling and discussing emotions with the child will increase their emotional vocabulary.

  Integrating opportunities to reflect on emotional states throughout the day is important. It provides opportunities for the child to practise emotional regulation skills they have learned and helps the adult to keep track of how the child is feeling. For example, allowing the children to share their emotional state when completing the register.

  Using language to ask for help from others is important, for example, you may work with a child to help them to ask the adult for a break. In doing this, you can see how the child responds to assistance or strategies offered by others.

  If the child is using unconventional coping strategies, demonstrating another, more effective strategy can be useful for them to copy. For example, modelling asking for help.

  More complex strategies could be used, such as, writing a list of what they may need to do when feeling overwhelmed. This can assist with the child’s self-regulation and increases their independence.

  Discussing how to cope in future situations is beneficial as the child can feel more in control and prepared. For example, if the child becomes upset or agitated by the sound in the classroom, they can use a card to ask for a break.

  Recognising the cause of a child’s emotional dysregulation can help us to put the most effective strategies in place. It is key to model these behaviours to the child and allow them lots of opportunities to practice.

  If you would like to find out more about emotional regulation, the websites and links on the screen have lots of useful information.

  If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

  • watch the other videos on our website including introduction to social communication, how to support social communication, comic strip conversations and social stories, and the zones of regulation
  • access the Neurodiversity Support Pack

  Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school.

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you!

• The zones of regulation

  Video transcript

  >> Narrator: Welcome to this video about The Zones of Regulation.

  In this short video, we will look at what The Zones of Regulation are, how to use them and some top tips about how to do this.

  The Zones of Regulation help to support a young person's ability to recognise their feelings and emotions and then act to regulate themselves in situations they find difficult to manage. It is a visual method of representing emotions and how you can use strategies to regulate them.

  The Zones of Regulation organises emotions into four coloured zones: blue, green, yellow and red. The Blue Zone describes low states of alertness and down feelings such as when a person feels sad, tired, or bored. Our energy is low, and our body is moving slowly when we are in the Blue Zone. The Green Zone describes a calm yet alert state. We may be feeling happy or peaceful in the Green Zone. The Yellow Zone describes when our energy is higher, and our internal state starts to elevate. Our emotions get a little stronger. We may be experiencing frustration, anxiety, excitement, or confusion when in the Yellow Zone. The Red Zone describes a state of extremely high energy and intense very overwhelming feelings. We may be in an extremely heightened state of alertness, potentially triggering our fight, flight or freeze protective response. We may be angry, overjoyed, panicking or out of control when in the Red Zones.

  You can access The Zones of Regulation website.

  Please watch this video to give you an example of how to get started.

  Although the green zone is a good zone for learning, there are other situations where being in the red, yellow, or blue zones are more helpful. All the zones are OK. For example, it may be appropriate for you to be in the blue zone when you are resting or getting ready to go to bed, and it’s fine to feel sad when sad things happen. It may be appropriate for you to be in the yellow zone ahead of a new situation for example your first day of school or being excited about going on a trip. It may be appropriate for you to be in the red zone when you have won a football match or if a lion was chasing you.

  If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

  • watch the other videos on our website including introduction to social communication, how to support social communication, comic strip conversations and social stories, and emotional regulation
  • access the Neurodiversity Support Pack

  Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school.

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you!

• Comic strip conversations and social stories

  Video transcript

  Welcome to this video on how to support social skills.

  In this video, we will look at Comic Strip Conversations and Social Stories.

  A Comic Strip Conversation is a visual representation of a conversation that shows what people are thinking and feeling, as well as saying. It is a reflective task to work through an event or a conversation after it has happened. Comic Strip Conversations are a strategy that can make the abstract more concrete, especially understanding what others are thinking, and how this relates to what they say. They also support understanding of social situations.

  You can use different colours to represent different emotions, and different symbols for people talking over each other. As you can see in this picture, there are thought bubbles to show what people might be thinking at that time and speech bubbles to show what someone said. Although we cannot visually represent someone listening, it is assumed that when one person is talking, the other person is listening. If listening is a challenge for an individual, you could talk to them about listening as you go through the Comic Strip Conversation. 

  In this example, the red writing represents angry thoughts or speech, and the blue writing represents some disappointed or upset thoughts or speech. You can choose which colours you want to use that best represent emotions for you and your child.  

  We can use Comic Strip Conversations to problem-solve social scenarios, after they have occurred, and to encourage the young person to make ‘sensible guesses’ about what other people might be thinking.

  Let’s now watch this video to give you an example of how a Comic Strip Conversation might work. 

  So, let’s start with a comic strip conversation. So, we are going to talk about something that happened last week, yes. 

  So, Esme was sitting on the dining room chair, and you were next to her and you took what she was playing with. She said “mine” and mummy said “stop”. 

  Two minutes later Esme was still on the dining room chair, and you took something again

  and mummy then said, do you remember what I said? “stop” I said “go next door” at that point, and you went next door to have a bit of a think and then came back and it was lunchtime. 

  Now before mummy said stop, can you remember, mummy was just a little bit tired and ill yes. So, this is mummy, a bit tired and ill.

  I would like to know Issac when you were next door in the sitting room if you can remember what your thoughts were. Was it, I should have listened, was it that’s not fair, was it, mummy’s right or was it mummy’s ill. Any of those? You can’t remember those thoughts? 

  The other thing is, at this point when you took it a second time, what were you thinking? I think you were thinking that you just want this, and you weren’t thinking that it would then make your sister cry. 

  She’s got no nose in this picture. Making her cry.Pardon? Ahh she’s crying

  If mummy hadn’t been tired or ill then I might not have said “go next door”, so mummy might have reacted differently.

  If you hadn’t really wanted it, you might have reacted differently, yes. So can you see how when you do something that impacts on your sister it then impacts on mummy. Mummy probably shouted this didn’t she, realistically, yes and then something else happens that affects you and that’s what a comic strip conversation is about, talking about situations. 

  Now we will look at social stories. 

  Social stories are descriptions of particular situations, or concepts, that include both what happens on the surface – like what people say and what people do – and also things below the surface, such as, people’s thoughts, feelings, and intentions. Social stories explain this information in a concrete way.

  They use pictures and words appropriate to the individual’s language level. They give specific information from the child’s perspective. 

  Again, we can also use them to explore, reinforce successes, and help a child to better understand social scenarios. Social stories should not be used as a consequence for challenging behaviour. 

  Social stories are similar in some ways to Comic Strip Conversations, but Comic Strip Conversations are often about specific events that have already happened. Social stories are usually about more general information, such as, the rules that govern a situation. 

  You could have a social story about a regular event such as crossing the road. Or it could be about an unusual event such as moving house or school. You could have a social story that explains how to do something, such as how to ask someone to play with you or how to cope with unexpected changes, like the bus arriving late. You can also have positive social stories about things such as something the child really enjoys, or something they are good at. 

  Some social stories should be introduced in advance of the event, for example moving house or changing school. Others which relate to more everyday events such as getting the bus should be read as regularly as needed. It’s a good idea to repeat the social story on a regular basis. You could even ask them questions about it to check their understanding!

  Social Stories can enhance understanding of a social situation, develop self-esteem, build trusting relationships, and grow independence skills. They support understanding and positive behaviour by helping the child to know what to do – they are not about what not to do. 

  Here is an example of a Social Story. This example provides context and an explanation as to why noisy dinner halls are challenging for this particular child.  

  You will see some blank spaces. This is to highlight how a story can be personalised for different children. You could pick the word that is appropriate for the child you are supporting, if this suits their specific needs.  For example, you might write ‘boring’, ‘tiring’, ‘frustrating’, ‘upsetting’.

  This example contains some strategies which could be helpful for this particular child. These coping strategies do not affect other people. Different strategies work for different people. It’s important to take the time to find out what works for the child you are supporting.    

  This example gives a clear outline of what the child can do to help themselves when they are waiting in the dinner hall.  

  Again, you could personalise this story by inserting alternative words, for example, overwhelmed, stressed, upset, scared. 

  Social Stories can look different depending on the child’s language level. They might include lots of visuals, or some might have more text.

  You can search for examples of Social Stories online. If this is the first time you are writing a Social Story, please talk to the child’s school for additional guidance.

  If you would like to find out more about comic strip conversations or social stories, the websites and links on the screen have lots of useful information.

  If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

  ·        Watch the other videos on our website including introduction to social communication, how to support social communication, emotional regulation, and zones of regulation.

  ·        You can access the Neurodiversity Support Pack by following the link on the screen: 

  ·        Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school. 

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs please visit our website by following the link shown on the screen. 

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language, and communication.

   

  Thank you.

Understanding and using language

We have developed a series of videos which contain information on supporting a child’s communication needs within the home or educational settings.

• Understanding words, sentences and beyond

  Video transcript

  Slide 1]

  Welcome to this video about understanding words, sentences and beyond.

  [Slide 2]

  By watching this video, you will:

  • Gain an overview of how we understand language, that is, words, sentences and beyond
  • Know what key words are and how we use them in sentences
  • Know how understanding of questions develop
  • Know what non-literal language is, and
  • Understand how you can help a child or young person who has difficulties in any of these areas.

  You can use the markers in the video to skip forward or back to any chapters you need to revisit or want more information on.

  For the rest of this video, we will use the terms child or children to refer to children and young people.

  [Slide 3]

  Children learn to understand the language that they hear before they can use this language to communicate with others. A child’s understanding will usually be ahead of their ability to use spoken language.

  As children grow and develop the range of words that they understand will increase, and they will be able to follow longer and more grammatically complex sentences.

  Understanding what other people say and mean is a complex process, and involves skills such as attention and listening, understanding vocabulary, verbal reasoning, problem solving, and working memory.

  Sometimes Speech and Language Therapists refer to this area as ‘understanding’ and sometimes as ‘receptive language’. Both terms mean how a child understands the words, sentences, and questions that are used with them.

  [Slide 4]

  A child who has difficulties with understanding may:

  • Need words or sentences to be repeated and/or simplified.
  • Not respond or give irrelevant responses to questions.
  • Only be able to follow parts of instructions.
  • Watch others so that they can work out what to do
  • Have difficulty understanding changes in routines and expectations.
  • Appear quiet, confused, or upset.
  • Become frustrated, withdrawn or avoidant.

  Not every child with speech and language needs has difficulties with understanding.

  [Slide 5]

  There may be a variety of reasons why children do not understand what is said.

  It could be because:

  • the child has limited focus
  • They do not know or understand the word or words being said to them
  • the sentence being used is too long
  • the sentence is not in a logical sequence for them to follow
  • OR, all of the above

  [Slide 6]

  You may have identified a difficulty understanding words, sentences, or beyond, but you are unsure where this difficulty lies.

  They could have difficulties understanding:

  • The information carrying words in a sentence
  • The grammatical features of words and sentences
  • Questions
  • Information that is inferred, also known as ‘reading between the lines’
  • That we do not always mean what we say

  We will look at each of these areas in more detail.

  [Slide 7]

  Many words in a sentence are redundant in common everyday situations. For a word to be classed as an ‘information carrying word’ (sometimes called a ‘key word’) there must be an alternative choice for the child to select.

  An information carrying word is a word that carries meaning and has an element of choice.

  The context, the equipment available and the language used determines how many key words are in a sentence or instruction.

  Games and activities can be set up to control the level of understanding required.

  For more information about how you can support a child to understand 1 to 4 information carrying words, please follow the link on the screen which will take you to this section of our website.

  [Slide 8]

  From an early age, children begin to develop the rules of grammar and knowledge of concepts, and this increases in complexity with age. For example they begin to understand:

  • Pronouns, like he/she, his/her, their
  • Negatives, using words such as ‘no’ or ‘not’
  • Prepositions, like in/on/under/behind/in front/next to
  • Comparatives, for example, big/bigger/biggest
  • Concepts, which are used to describe a range of ideas including size, colour, number, shape, time and personal qualities
  • Regular and irregular plurals
  • Past, present and future verb tenses

  The more the children hear the grammatical features of words and sentences, the more they understand their meaning, and when and how to use them.

  [Slide 9]

  A child’s understanding of questions develops from easier questions, which are about the ‘here and now’, like “what’s that?” and “which one do we eat?”, to harder questions, which are beyond the ‘here and now’, like “what does erase mean?” and “why might we use a pencil instead of a pen?”

  The different level of questions are often referred to as Blank Levels which come from the Blank model. For more information about the Blank model and how you can support in this area, please click on the link which will take you to this section of our website.

  A training workshop on the Blank model is available for booking – please visit the training section of our website for more information.

  [Slide 10]

  Whilst learning what individual words and grammatical features mean, children also start to understand how we infer information, known as inferencing. This means they are required to deduce or conclude something from what was said, and make logical judgements. This is often referred to as ‘reading between the lines’.

  Inferencing is a difficult skill to achieve for many children because it involves complex and abstract skills such as:

  • Understanding cause and effect
  • Recognising the emotions and motives of other people
  • Dealing with a variety of outcomes of a situation
  • Accepting the ‘point of view’ of other people

  The ability to infer is a core skill to ensure progress through education.

   

  [Slide 11]

  Children also have to learn that we do not always mean what we say. We commonly use figurative, or non-literal, or ambiguous language, including idioms and metaphors.

  [Slide 12]

  Non literal language is used regularly in homes and schools, for example:

  • “as cool as a cucumber” meaning “calm and relaxed”
  • “it’s raining cats and dogs” meaning “it’s raining heavily”
  • “hang on a minute”, sometimes used as a request which means wait until I am ready which may not be one minute at all, or sometimes used as an objection, dependent on the tone accompanying it, “hang on a minute!”

  We often use this type of language without actually realising, but for some children, this can be tricky, and you will need to be aware that you are using figurative language and explain what you mean.

  • Understanding of non-literal language is dependent upon age, understanding, and experience. However, if a child struggles to follow simple, concrete language, then figurative language will usually be too complex for them to understand.

  [Slide 13]

  To help a child with understanding difficulties, you can:

  Use visuals

  Instructions, questions and explanations should always be supported with visual aids where possible. You can:

  • Use a visual timetable to show the structure of the day or part of the day
  • Use natural gesture, signs, finger points or eye points while speaking to highlight key words or messages
  • Use pictures or real life objects to support what is said
  • Demonstrate wherever possible
  • Write down key points and vocabulary
  • Use visual task plans for school aged children to refer back to, to build independence

  [Slide 14]

  You can:

  • Simplify your language
  • Use shorter sentences.
  • Use simpler vocabulary, for example, say “mix together” rather than “combine’.
  • Use positive statements, for example, “walk” rather than “don’t run”
  • Avoid using conditional phrases like ‘if’, for example, say “Tom, you are having school dinners”, rather than “If you are having school dinners, please line up at the door”
  • Emphasise the important words within a sentence and repeat key information.
  • Explain figurative language, for example, “pull your socks up”
  • Be explicit with instructions, rather than using inferred language, for example, say “please close the window” rather than “it’s a bit cold in here now”

  Where possible, pre-teach information that may come up in a school lesson, so the child may be more motivated to attend, and understand the language being used

  [Slide 15]

  You can:

  • gain attention and slow down
  • Make sure you have gained the child’s attention, for example, by using their name, before giving an instruction or introducing an activity
  • Slow down your own rate of your speech
  • Pause more often to allow more time for the child to process information

  [Slide 16]

  You can:

  • Be aware of instructions
  • Say things in the logical order you want the child to do them, for example, say “Put your pyjamas on then brush your teeth” instead of “before you brush your teeth, put your pyjamas on”
  • Break information into smaller chunks.
  • Repeat information as required. Sometimes it helps to rephrase what you have said. Show the child what you mean if necessary, repeating the language as you do so.

  [Slide 17]

  You can:

  • Consider your questions:
  • Remember questions range in complexity For example, ‘how?’, ‘when?’ and ‘why?’ questions require inferencing skills, which may be particularly challenging to answer.
  • Simplify your questions where possible
  • Give the child enough time to respond to questions; 10 seconds is encouraged. 

  You can:

  • Check understanding:
  •  Monitor understanding by asking simple questions or looking for clues they have not understood
  • Ask the child to repeat the key points. This will help you to monitor what they have remembered and understood.
  • Encourage the child’s attempts to seek clarification. Praise them when they say they have not understood. Provide prompt phrases like “what does that mean?” or “can you repeat the question please?”

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website by following the link shown on the screen.

  The resources section has lots of useful information and the training section hosts a range of free to access to videos as well bookable workshops.

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you!

• Using words, sentences and beyond

  Video transcript

  >> Female narrator: Welcome to this video about using words, sentences and beyond.

  By watching this video, you will:

  • gain an overview of how we use language, that is, words, sentences and beyond
  • understand how you can help with early language development
  • understand how you can help with vocabulary development
  • understand how you can help with storytelling skills

  You can use the markers in the video to skip forward or back to any chapters you need to revisit or want more information on.

  Speaking refers to how we use language; that is how we learn to say new words and put them together. This can also include non-verbal communication, such as use of gestures. As children develop, they grow their vocabulary and use longer, more complex sentences.

  Speaking requires having words to describe objects, actions and attributes, using words to build up sentences, using sentences to build up conversations and stories, and following the rules of grammar. To be a successful communicator, children need to understand words and sentences before they can use this language to communicate with others. If you are concerned about a child’s understanding, please watch our video titled ‘understanding words, sentences and beyond’.

  Sometimes Speech and Language Therapists refer to this area as ‘speaking’ or ‘talking’ and sometimes they will refer to it as ‘expressive language’. Each of these terms mean how a child uses words, sentences, conversations and non-verbal communication.

  A child who has difficulties with speaking may:

  • use single words or short sentences
  • rely on non-verbal communication, like pointing or gestures, to get their message across
  • stick to familiar, safe topics
  • have limited vocabulary
  • struggle to find the correct word, or use the wrong word, made-up words, or ‘empty’ words like “thingy”, “that”
  • have difficulties learning and retaining words
  • struggle to sequence words into the correct order in a sentence
  • struggle to sequence sentences to tell a story
  • make errors with grammatical features of language, like pronouns or verb tenses
  • appear quiet
  • become frustrated, withdrawn or avoidant
  • have difficulties with friendships

  Not every child with speech and language needs has difficulties with speaking.

  There may be a variety of reasons why a child is having difficulties with speaking.

  It could be due to:

  • having limited exposure to words and sentences
  • general learning difficulties
  • conditions or disorders which can affect expressive language development, like Autism, or Downs Syndrome, or Developmental Language Disorder, or hearing loss OR
  • sometimes there is no obvious cause or reason why a child is having difficulties with speaking

  If you have a child who needs support with their early language development; that is, they are not yet using words, or are using some words, but not yet using sentences, here are our top tips:

  Let the child lead; this might be in play or in conversation, but hold back and let them take the lead. This will help you to gauge what they are interested in, and how they are communicating with you. They might even surprise you by saying or doing something you had not expected.

  Follow their interests in what they are saying, playing with, or motivated by. This can support their attention and listening skills, enabling a child to stay at an activity for a longer time. Using this strategy also helps them, that you are listening to them and valuing what they are saying and what they are doing. By following their interests during open ended activities, you are giving them time and space to think and communicate. For older children having conversations based on their interests shows you are listening and valuing what they say.

  Join in with what they are doing. Even if the child is not playing with something as you might expect, go with the flow. By getting involved with children's games and conversations, you are engaging with their world, and building a rapport with them, which means they are more likely to want to communicate with you. This helps develop relationships, and supports social and emotional development.

  Speech and Language Therapists often refer to these first few tips as ‘Stop, Listen, Respond’. Counting to 10 can help you to stop and listen first, before you respond or initiate play or conversation.

  Ensure you are face-to-face where possible. Get down to the child’s level, for example, on the floor, on your lap, kneel down or lie down. When we are face-to-face, it makes it easier to see messages we are giving each other. This helps to engage the child, shows them that you are interested, and helps them to listen to you.

  Say what you see. Comment on what the child is doing using short and simple comments. Children need to hear language in context for them to learn new words. It is important to model language, and comment on what is happening as it happens. The easiest way to comment is to name what the child is doing or the object they are interested in, for example, “you’re painting” or “car!”. If they are older you may wish to use more complex vocabulary, for example, “you’re painting a forest scene”, or “that looks like a sleek car”. Remember to comment using nouns which are the names of objects, people or places, verbs which are doing words, adjectives which are describing words, and more. Avoid non-specific or empty words that do not add in extra language.

  Use non verbal communication alongside your words. Over 50% of our message is communicated by our bodies and the situation. Make sure you are using eye contact, gestures or pointing, and changing the intonation, pitch and tone of your voice to match the situation. All of these make it more exciting for the child, for example “vroom vroom the car is coming!” or “oh no the car has skidded off the side of the road”.

  Repeat, repeat, repeat. Repetition is key: Children need to hear words over and over again to understand them and be able to use them. Introducing a word once will often not be enough for them to remember that word. If you have ever learned a second language, or attempted to, you will know that you need to hear a word many times to understand it and then use it. Likewise, if you don’t keep hearing the word or using it, you lose it from your vocabulary store.

  Interpret what the child is saying and doing. Interpreting their communication attempts is important as it acknowledges what they are trying to say to you, and encourages them to attempt and say more. Over 50% of communication is non-verbal so look out for when children are communicating with you in this way; it could be a point, a look, a change in facial expression or body language. They might lead you somewhere or they might give you something. Accept all attempts at communication then model the words that you would like the child to use instead. For example, they might point to request something, and you could say “you want the banana”. They might bring you their open shoelaces, and you could say “you need help, help tie my shoelaces please”.

  Model the correct words and sentences. If a child is making grammatical errors or using incorrect pronunciation, interpret what you think they are saying and model the correct language. For example, if they say “Bobby climb top of tree”, you model back “Bobby has climbed to the top of the tree!”, if they say “wainbow” you could say “yes it’s a rainbow”. Do not draw direct attention to their error, or ask them to copy you back, but they might do this naturally anyway.

  Repeat and expand. This is a really useful strategy as it gives children the model they need for the next stage in their language journey. For example, if a child says ‘train' you can add a word so that it becomes 'big train' or 'fast train' or 'drive the train'. For children who are moving on to saying sentences you can add another clause or phrase to expand this, for example, 'big train' becomes 'yes, you're driving a big train’. Speech and Language Therapists sometimes refer to this as ‘match plus 1’.

  Extend the child’s vocabulary. What does the word ‘sun’ make you think of? It might generate thoughts like: “hot”, “summer”, “happy”, “yellow”, “bright”, “beach”, “weather”, “shine” and so on. We need to make sure children are exposed to a range of vocabulary. Different types of vocabulary are important; nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and so on.

  Speech and Language Therapists often refer to the words we need to expose our children to as ‘Goldilocks words’; they are not too hard, not too easy, but they are useful, likely to be encountered again, and likely to be in the vocabulary of a child who is a year or two ahead of them. For example, with cooking you might introduce them to words like pouring, kneading, stirring, when petting animals you might introduce words like care, gentle, stroke, fluffy, careful and so on. The words you use makes a difference to a child’s vocabulary.

  Finally reduce your questions. We previously looked at the importance of using commenting to build a child’s expressive language skills. There is a time and a place for questions, but we need to ensure we are providing good language models, and this happens when we comment rather than question. Speech and Language Therapists often recommend the 1 in 5 rule. This means for every five things you say, only one should be a question, and the others should be comments. It is important to also think about the questions that you are asking; often these are testing questions rather than genuine need-to-know questions. Instead of asking “what is it?”, you could name the object. Instead of asking “what are you doing?”, you could name the action. By commenting, rather than asking a question, you are providing language for the child to learn from.

  Did you know parents, or other caregivers including school or setting staff, who talk as they go about their daily activities expose children to 1000 to 2000 words every hour? Just by talking about what you are doing as you are doing it you are building a child’s language skills.

  Now we are going to look at strategies to support vocabulary development.

  First, Use visuals (pause to allow time to read screen):

  • Use pictures, symbols and objects to support understanding and knowledge of words.
  • Use a multi-sensory approach that engages more than one sense at a time, rather than relying on spoken language alone.
  • Create personal vocabulary books or word glossaries, with diagrams and pictures. 

  Use vocabulary learning tools:

  • This word map template is available to download on our website or you can make your own.
  • Mind Maps are an excellent way of tapping into visual memory skills to support vocabulary learning and recall. For more information on how to use Mind Maps please search for Tony Buzan online. 

  Our top tips for supporting vocabulary development:

  • Emphasise key words or concepts when speaking for example, “The mouse is UNDER the box”
  • Reinforce new vocabulary in different situations and contexts.
  • Repeat, repeat, repeat
  • Where possible, pre-teach vocabulary that will come up in lessons or conversation topics
  • Link new vocabulary to information the child is already familiar with.
  • Give phonological or semantic cues to support word-retrieval. For example:
    • the beginning sound of the word
    • the first syllable of the word
    • an associated word
    • describe the word or talk about what it means

  For more information about vocabulary development and how you can support this area, please click on the resources picture which will take you to this section of our website. There is also a training workshop on vocabulary – please visit the training section of our website for more information.

  Lastly, we are focusing on strategies to support storytelling skills. These are also called narrative skills

  You can:

  • Use visuals.
  • Use first, next, then, and last templates to help structure events. 
  • Use story planners or narrative frameworks to help structure stories to support with the ‘beginning’, the ‘middle’ and the ‘end’. The templates shown are available to download on our website or you can make your own.
  • Use visual timetables and make explicit reference to events, for example, “First it’s maths, next it’s lunch”.
  • Use colour coding approaches to show that question words relate to story components
  • Use timelines to help sequencing of past events
  • Use mind maps to support recall or planning of a story

  Some of the top tips from supporting early language development seen earlier, can also be applied to supporting storytelling or narrative skills.

  Model:

  • If the child makes a mistake in their sentence or story, help them to repair it by modelling back. You may need to adjust the order, add missing vocabulary, or add grammatical features
  • Comment rather than question to allow the child to hear the appropriate language used in sentences and stories. 
  • Expand their sentences and stories by repeating and adding one new word or idea.
  • Don’t forget to use visuals!

  For more information about narrative skills and how you can support this area, please click on the resources picture which will take you to this section of our website. There is also a training workshop on narrative – please visit the training section of our website for more information.

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful ti[ps for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you!

Speech sounds

Videos focused on helping children and young people with speech sounds.

• Introduction to speech sounds

  Video transcript

  Welcome to this introductory video about speech sounds.

  In this short video you will learn how speech sounds are made and how they develop.

  Let’s start by thinking about speech sounds within the wider context of speech, language and communication skills.

  Often we can be quick to focus on speech because it is obvious to us as the listener that something is not quite right, but it is important to bear in mind that speech sounds are just one aspect of communication.

  Communication involves a number of skills and it is important to think about speech amongst these other skills.

  Is the difficulty just speech? Is the difficulty language rather than speech? Or perhaps a combination of speech sound difficulties and language? What impact are attention and listening having on speech sound development?  How are speech sounds impacting the child’s ability to interact?

  Attention & listening are foundation skills for developing communication. Paying attention and listening to other people, activities or in play can be difficult for some children. They may be easily distracted. These skills are important when listening to and discriminating between speech sounds

  Children’s interaction with others supports their communication development. Two way interaction helps to establish shared messages and meaning with their communication partner. Play and language develops hand in hand. It’s important for children to develop imaginative play in order for speech and language to grow.

  Children need to hear language to be able to use it. They need to understand the meaning of words and sentences and the ideas behind them. As they get older, they begin to understand the way sentences are constructed. They also need to understand how different word endings can change the meaning of a sentence.

  Use of language is concerned with the words children use and how they combine them together to make phrases and sentences.

  Speech is a common concern amongst parents and professionals, it easy to spot a difficulty in this area. But it is important that the other communication skills are also developing. Some children may have speech sound difficulties alongside other communication difficulties or as a standalone area of need.

  Have you ever thought about how the brain processes sounds? Let’s think about what happens when you ask a child ‘would you like some snack?’ what happens next…

  Children must be listening to a sound in order to process it. Encouraging children to tune in to talking is an important step in the process. They must realise that you are talking to them

  Some children have hearing impairments or hearing difficulties such as glue ear. This will impact on how they hear and perceive a sound. If you have concerns about a child’s hearing, ensure a referral to audiology is made.

  Several things then happen in the brain before the child can respond

  The child has to tell the difference between sounds they have just heard. They need to pick the target sound out from other sounds that they know.  This is called sound discrimination.

  The child selects the sounds in their brain that they need for their target word. They have the knowledge of the concept of the sound and that sounds are the building blocks of words. For example, for the word ‘yes’, they must choose ‘y’ ‘e’ and ‘s’.

  The child then selects the motor programme from their brain. This is the programme of how to say the sound and how to combine the sounds to make the word.

  Finally the child can say the sounds in the right combination and answer the question.

  This process all happens in a matter of seconds!

  Any point in the chain can be disrupted and cause the child difficulties. As Speech and Language Therapists, we would look at this process to determine where the breakdown is occurring.

  Thinking about the output side for a moment longer, there are additional steps in the process of producing speech. Join in with this activity

  • Place your hand on your ribs and feel your breath go in and out. We make sounds on the out breath, for example say ‘paper’ and you will feel the air coming out of your mouth.
  • As the air travels up the wind pipe to the vocal cords, they then vibrate to make some sounds, but don’t vibrate for others. You can feel this by putting your hand gently on your throat and alternating between a /s/ and /z/ sound – you should feel vibrations on the /z/ sound.
  • We then use our articulators to make different sounds. Articulators include our tongue, lips or teeth. Think about how your lips come together for a /b/ sound for example.

  We make many different types of sounds and Speech and Language Therapists will describe speech sounds in different ways.

  Sounds can be loud or quiet depending on if the vocal cords touch together. Loud sounds are made on the out breath and the vocal cords vibrate together. Quiet sounds are made on the out breath but there is no contact between the vocal cords.

  We also think about where in the mouth sounds are made. For example at the front of the mouth or the back. 

  Finally we think about how the sounds are made, for example some sounds are long others are short.

  It is important we model the sound and not the letter when working on speech sounds, for example we  must say ‘p’ and not ‘puh’ or ‘pee’.

  Most children take time to develop their speech sounds. We are not expecting children to use all sounds correctly when they start to talk. It is common for younger children to be only understood by people that know them well and as they get more practice at talking their sounds and clarity improves.

  Some children will alter their sounds without help whilst some children find learning sounds for talking difficult and need some support to help them get clearer.

  Look at the wheel and notice how the early sounds are those made at the front of the mouth, for example  ‘p’ ‘m’ ‘b’ and are the babbling type sounds children learn first. The later sounds such as ‘r’ ‘th’ and the cluster sounds ‘sm, gl, pr’ for example are much later than many parents (and often teachers) realise.

  Our website has a screening tool you can use to assess a child’s speech sounds either at home or in their setting

  It will help support you in identifying any patterns to the child’s speech sound errors and if you need to consider further support.

  There is a video to help explain how to complete it or talk to your child’s setting about completing it for you.

  If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

  • Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school
  • Ask for a hearing referral if you are concerned about a child’s hearing
  • Have a go at listening to the child’s speech and identify which sounds they are using.
  • Watch our other videos 
    • Early sound play
    • Phonological awareness
    • Supporting speech: input activities

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you

• Early sound play

  Video transcript

  >> Female narrator: Welcome to this video about early sound play

  You may find it useful to watch the video ‘An introduction to speech sounds’ before watching this video, but this is not essential.

  In this short video you will consider the importance of early sound play and become familiar with some games and activities you can try

  Communication involves a number of skills. Good attention and listening are important skills for developing communication including speech.

  This is covered in more detail in the video ‘Introduction to speech sounds’.

  Children need to be listening and attending when completing speech sound activities in order for progress to be made. If a child is not quite ready to take part in other activities, you could support them by playing simple listening games.

  Developing skills in listening and awareness of sounds is really important, there are lots of ways you can support listening skills, here are some examples.

  • Ready, steady, go activities with an instrument, bubbles, car or marble run are great for building anticipation and getting a child’s attention.
  • Games like Simon Says where the child has to listen carefully for the command offer a more physical alternative to a listening activity.
  • Going on a listening walk around the house, garden, playground or on the way to the shops can help give a child a focus, especially if they have to record what they can hear.

  Please click the link on the screen to watch a short video. [Watch Letters and Sounds Phase 1 - Aspect 1: General sound discrimination – Environmental]

  When the child is ready to engage in early sounds activities, it is really important that you accurately model speech sounds, using the pure sound and not the letter name for example ‘sss’ not ‘suh’ or ‘ess’ and ‘p’ not ‘puh’ or ‘pee’.

  The most important element of these activities is the child hearing you say the sounds clearly on their own and in the words, if they join in that’s great but do not force them to repeat words – they will join in when they are ready.

  You could try things like:

  • Making a personalised sound book containing pictures of words with their target sound. For example if your child is struggling with the ‘k’ sound can you find pictures in old magazines or on flyers of cat, car, computer, carrot etc.
  • You could go on a sound hunt around your house and see if you can find things with ‘k’ in them for example cooker, calendar, cake etc. There are many printed templates online but it is perfectly fine to make your own.
  • Lots of books, songs and nursery rhymes have repetitive sounds in them for example Brown bear Brown Bear, hickory dickory dock and Fox’s socks. The BBC Tiny Happy People website has lots of videos of nursery rhymes including second language recordings, follow the link on the screen for more information.

  As we have said, it is really important that children hear sounds being modelled, lots of times and that they are not forced to repeat sounds or words. However, once they are showing signs of wanting to join in then you will need to get creative and make speech sound work fun and motivating for the child.

  A great way to engage children in speech sound activities is to make it into a game. Children will need to practise any tricky sounds in isolation before they can say them in words. Here are some examples of what you could try

  For the sound /p/ try blowing a feather or a ping pong ball across the table by saying the sound /p/ and letting the out breath move the object. You could also do this by holding a tissue in front of the child’s mouth and see if they can make it flutter.

  For the sound /m/ you could practise feeding a doll or teddy different foods and say ‘mmmmm’ if they liked it, you could of course do this during a family meal time as well.

  Whilst playing with a ball you could practise saying /b/ as the ball bounces

  Please click on the links to the resources section on our website for more information on supporting early sound play and other areas of speech, language and communication.

  Section 3 of The Early Years communication and language toolkit contains further ideas for how to support listening and speech sounds

  Letters and Sounds Phase 1 has lots of resources and useful videos to support this area.

  Have a go at supporting early sound awareness using some of the ideas in this video, or follow the links given for more information, games and activities.

  If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

  • speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school
  • ask for a hearing referral if you are concerned about a child’s hearing
  • have a go at listening to the child’s speech and identify which sounds they are using.
  • watch our other videos:
    • introduction to speech sounds
    • phonological awareness
    • supporting speech: input activities

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you

• Phonological awareness

  Video transcript

  Welcome to this video about phonological awareness. In this short video you develop an understanding of what phonological awareness is and know where to find activities and resources to support you.

  Because the rules of phonology differ amongst languages, so does the order and rate at which phonological awareness skills develop. Information in this video is based on an English speaking child. 

  Phonological awareness refers to knowing about the sounds in words and learning how sounds go together to make words. 

  Children’s phonological awareness skills typically develop in the pre-school years. They are a really important predictor of how well a child will progress in their literacy i.e. reading and writing. 

  Phonological awareness is not the same as phonics. Phonics is about linking the sounds to a letter. 

  Phonological awareness skills tend to follow a pattern, but they are not linear. This means children can be learning one skill whilst still mastering another. 

  It is widely accepted that syllable awareness comes before phoneme awareness. It is also documented in research that children can blend (i.e. put sounds together) before they can segment (i.e. break words or sounds apart). 

  When children enter school they are expected to participate in literacy programmes that focus on individual sounds in words and how to manipulate them. This is the highest level of phonological awareness and any children that do not have the earlier skills will struggle to make progress in such programmes.

  We will now look at the different components of phonological awareness. 

  Words that rhyme have the same sounds at the end such as dog, log and frog. This does not necessarily mean they have the same letters in their spelling, for example bye, pie and cry all have the same end sound ‘eye’ but they are all spelt differently. 

  Singing nursery rhymes and reading books that have repetitive rhyming strings are a great way to support children’s understanding of rhyme. 

  Please click the link on the screen to watch a short video.

  Syllables are often considered to be the phonological building blocks of words. They always have a vowel sound and often have accompanying consonant sounds. You might think about them as  ‘beats’ in a word, for example hat has 1 syllable, ta-ble has 2,  di-no-saur has 3 and he-li-cop-ter has 4 syllables 

  Onset and rime is how we would break a single syllable down. The onset is the first sound and the rime is everything that comes after. For example, in the word sun /s/ is the onset and ‘un’ is the rime. If there is more than one consonant sound at the start of the word, this forms the onset, for example in the word ‘slug’ /sl/ is the onset and ‘ug’ is the rime. It is a useful skill when learning to read and write. 

  Being able to recognise the initial sound (and later the final sounds) in words is an important next step towards being able to blend and segment words.

  Alliteration is when two or more words start with the same sound and are used repeatedly in a phrase, for example, ‘even elephants enjoy eating eggs everyday’.

  Sound blending is the ability to build words from individual sounds by blending them in a sequence, for example ‘b’ ‘u’ ‘s’ makes ‘bus’ and ‘cr’ ‘a’ ‘b’ makes ‘crab’.

  Segmenting sounds is one step further than identifying the onset and rime. It involves identifying the individual sounds in the word, for example ‘dog’ can be broken down into ‘d o g’. It is important to focus on sounds and not letters or the spelling of a word, for example ‘mouse’ has 5 letters but only 3 sounds ‘m’ ‘ou’ ‘se’

  Phonological Awareness should be worked on and established within the setting. It can help the child to organise their sound system without directly working on articulation. 

  Please click the link on the screen to watch a short video. 

  Please click on the link to visit the resources section on our website for more information on supporting phonological awareness. 

  Section 3 of The Early Years communication and language toolkit contains further ideas for how to support listening and speech sounds

  Letters and Sounds Phase 1 has lots of resources and useful videos to support this area. 

  Have a go at supporting phonological awareness using some of the ideas in this video, or follow the links given for more information, games and activities. 

  If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

  • Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school 
  • Ask for a hearing referral if you are concerned about a child’s hearing
  • Have a go at listening to the child’s speech and identify which sounds they are using. 

  Watch our other videos 

  • Introduction to speech sounds
  • Early sound play and
  • Supporting speech: input activities

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs please visit our website by following the link shown on the screen. 

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication. 

  Thank you.

• Supporting speech sounds: input activities

  Video transcript

  >> Narrator: Welcome to this video about how to support speech sounds using input activities.

  You may find it useful to watch our videos ‘Introduction to Speech Sounds’ and ‘Early sound play’ before this one, but it is not essential.

  In this short video you will:

  • learn what we mean by ‘input’ activities and why they are important
  • begin to learn how to use input activities to support speech sound development

  Children need to be listening and attending when completing speech sound activities in order for progress to be made. If a child is not quite ready to take part in speech sound activities, you could support them by playing simple listening games as covered in the video ‘Early Sound Play’.

  An important first step in supporting speech sound development is to give the child lots of opportunities to hear the correct production of sounds. This is something you can get started with, it will never do any harm to expose the child to lots of sounds!

  Remember it is important we model the sound and not the letter when working on speech sounds, for example we must say ‘p’ and not ‘puh’ or ‘pee’. 

  Repeating sounds lots of time for a child is called auditory bombardment and is a great way to introduce new sounds to a child or let them listen to a sound that they find tricky.

  An easy way to do this is to read a story that has repetitive sounds in. For example Fox’s Socks repeatedly uses the 's'/ sound both at the beginning and ends of words. Or the 3 little pigs has lots of 'p' words in.

  There are commercially available resources that promote listening for sounds, but you can easily make your own sound bingo or matching pairs activities. Early vocabulary books often have whole pages of pictures arranged by initial sound and letting the child listen as you name them is a simple way to carry out ‘auditory bombardment’.

  You could make a feely bag out of an old pillowcase or use a shoe box then fill it with everyday objects starting with the same sound, for example if you’re supporting a child who finds 'k' tricky you could include a cup, carrot, comb, a toy cow, a candle, a toy car etc. As the child pulls them out you can name them and talk about the object, using the target sound lots of times.

  Search the internet for sound loaded scenes. These are pictures that contain lots of images relating to the target sound. The one on the screen is for the 'r' sound and contains words like rainbow, rocket, raking, royal, riding, racing, rinsing etc. 

  Auditory discrimination means being able to hear the difference between sounds, it doesn’t mean a child cannot hear the sounds. Lots of children with speech sound difficulties struggle with this, even though their hearing is within normal limits.

  The example shows 'k' vs 't' - children who struggle to hear the difference between these sounds, will have difficulties using the sounds in their speech and may say ‘tea’ for ‘tea’ and  also ‘key’

  Do not underestimate the power of a child hearing sounds on their own and in words, it is a really important step in the therapy process. 

  A minimal pair listening activity is likely to have been recommended by a therapist, if your child is consistently confusing one sound for another. Minimal pairs are a pair of words that include the exact same sound with the exception of one, the sound that your child is making an error with. For example with the minimal pair Pea versus Bee the only difference is the first sound. With the minimal pair Kit versus Kick the only difference is with the final sound.

  The main way in which minimal pairs are used is to support your child’s listening and discrimination skills. The aim is for the adult to initially introduce both pictures in the pair and then encourage the child to listen carefully to your production.

  So for example you may say “I’ve two pictures here this one is Pea and this one is Bee can you listen carefully and show me which one is Pea”. The aim would then be for the child to point to the picture that you have named. They may complete the task by posting the target picture or putting an object or counter onto the target picture. You could use a tick chart to motivate your child or and make sure you pick an activity that your child finds rewarding and motivating.

  Practice each word pair multiple times for example the next time you could say point to Bee. It’s important not to just alternate between the two words otherwise your child may be able to anticipate what you’re going to say next.

  It is also important to give your child specific feedback during the activity if they choose correctly then lots of praise “Well done”, “Good Listening”, “That’s Right”. If they choose incorrectly avoid making a negative comment and instead make a reinforcing comment such as “Good Trying but you’ve chosen Pea I was looking for Bee” show them this at the same time.

  Even if your child finds discriminating between minimal pair words easy it's an important activity to implement as good listening and discrimination skills are essential for accurate production of sound.

  You can search on the internet for lists of minimal pairs and pictures, many of which are freely available.

  Websites such as Twinkl and Black Sheep Press also have commercially available resources, click on the links shown on screen. 

  Have a go at input work using some of the ideas in this video.

  Be creative when carrying out input work, try to incorporate the child’s interests, either in the words you use or the games and activities you play.

  Remember to be positive and give lots of praise. There is no expectation that the child joins in or copies you at this stage, input work is all about modelling sounds clearly for the child.

  If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

  • speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school
  • ask for a hearing referral if you are concerned about a child’s hearing
  • have a go at listening to the child’s speech and identify which sounds they are using. 
  • watch our other videos 
    • introduction to speech sounds
    • early sound play
    • phonological awareness

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you

• Supporting speech sounds: blending

  Video transcript

  In this video I will be explaining how to implement speech activities that involve blending a target consonant sound with a range of vowel sounds.

  If your therapist has recommended that you work on vowel and consonant blending, it is likely that your child can say the target sound in isolation but is struggling to use it in words. 

  Before a sound can be used accurately it needs to be practiced in simple blends. A ‘CV’ word refers to a word that consists of a ‘consonant’ sound followed by a ‘vowel’ sound, for example the word ‘tea’ is made up of the consonant ‘t’ followed by the vowel ‘ee’. A ‘VC’ word is the opposite, it refers to a word that consists of a ‘vowel’ sound followed by a ‘consonant’ sound, for example the word ‘arm’ is made up of the vowel ‘ar’ followed by the consonant ‘m’.

  When working on CV and VC sound blending, it’s likely that the therapist will have provided you with some visual sound resources to help implement the activity. One example format may be like the visuals you can see now which includes a vowel wheel and the target consonant.

  For this specific set of resources complete the blending activity by placing the consonant card in the middle of the vowel wheel and pointing to each sound as you say it ‘t…ee, t…ee, tee, t…oo, t…oo, too’. Repeat this for each of the vowel sounds on the wheel encouraging your child to produce each blend after you.

  Your child may require an adult model each time, but as they practice more frequently, they are less likely to need that adult model. It does not matter if the blends you encourage your child to make are not real words.

  When switching to VC word blending the process is exactly the same but just point to the vowel sound first ‘ee…t, ee…t, eat’. Again, there are multiple ways you could achieve the same activity. You may be provided with a vowel dice instead, so that the child rolls the dice and blends the consonant sound with the vowel that they land on.

  Remember to make the activity fun and motivating for your child, you could do this by letting them have a turn in a game after each blend they produce, or you could use something like a tick or a reward chart.

  Please contact your therapist if you would like any extra resources for your activities.

Supporting speech, language and communication in secondary schools

• What is speech language and communication

  Video transcript

  Welcome to this video ‘What is speech, language and communication?’. This is the first of 3 videos about supporting speech, language and communication needs in the secondary years.

  The videos are best viewed in order to give a comprehensive overview of speech, language and communication needs, but each video is also a useful standalone unit. 

  In the first video we will explore what communication is, how and why it might breakdown and what impact speech, language and communication needs (often shortened to SLCN) has on a child or young person. 

  Let’s start with the question ‘What is communication?’ What do we mean by speech, language and communication?

  • Speech refers to our ability to combine sounds together to say words.
  • Language is our ability to understand words and sentences so that we can follow what is being said and, to organise our thoughts and ideas using appropriate vocabulary into grammatically correct sentences.
  • We can think about communication as our ability to say the right thing, at the right time, in the right way. It involves using speech and language skills to convey the messages we want to send to others.

  There are many different components to communication, and we can start to think about these in terms of input – what goes in, what we see, hear or experience and what comes out – what we want to say, do, show etc. 

  This communication chain is based on verbal communication, it can easily be adapted to accommodate other forms of communication, the main principles are still the same. 

  First you must notice that someone is communicating with you so you can focus your attention on them. Then you need to hear what is being said and process this for meaning or understanding. You might use the speaker’s body language to help you work out the meaning before deciding what you want to say in return. You have to work out what is an appropriate response in this situation, find the words you need and construct these into a grammatically correct sentence. You then deliver your message, ensuring your non-verbal communication is pitched correctly and finally you monitor the other person’s response. 

  This can be a useful framework to think about where a child or young person’s difficulties lie, it can be used to talk to them about their difficulties and highlight where support or strategies are needed. 

  Communication is a fundamental life skill, we all have the need to be able to understand and to be understood. Communication is the foundation of relationships and is essential for learning and social interaction.

  Pause the video and think of 5 ways or means of communicating, 5 reasons to communicate and 5 opportunities to communicate (when, where, who with). Start the video again when you are ready. 

  Hopefully talking or using words wasn’t the only way of communicating that you thought of. We can communicate using signs, gestures, behaviour, pictures or body language for example.
  We have many reasons to communicate, often we think of requesting but we also communicate to give information, express our feelings, get attention, ask questions, protest etc. 

  You can probably think of lots of opportunities in your day for communicating with others, but do you think children and young people with speech, language and communication needs have the same opportunities? What opportunities do you create in the day for communication? 

  Thinking about any of these areas, how would your life be impacted if you weren’t able to do this? How would this make you feel? Think about that as we move on. 

  We have looked at what communication is and how it happens, now let’s think about where it can go wrong, where can communication break down? Essentially this can be at any point in that communication chain that we saw earlier. Some examples include:

  On the input side

  1. Hearing difficulties such as underlying glue ear or a congenital hearing loss can have a significant impact on successful communication. If the child or young person cannot attend to or concentrate on activities that they have chosen or activities that are adult led, they are likely to disengage with that process.  
  2. Children or young people may have difficulties understanding words such as where are the scissors? Or Pass me the mouse. Or the difficulty might be in understanding the meaningful words in a sentence such as ‘find the big red jug’ or ‘after you have finished the graph put your worksheets in the orange tray’
  3. Difficulties processing information and or working out the meaning of what is being asked can hugely impact not only on communication but also on their behaviour.  
     
     And thinking about output
  4. Imagine every time you are exposed to a new word you make a link or connection and file it away, for example all animals are in one location and these are then subdivided into mammals, reptiles, birds and then again perhaps by habitat, size, colour etc. If the words are not filed correctly, it will be difficult to retrieve them later on, or to file other new words alongside them.
  5. Children and young people who do not have solid sequencing skills may use sentences that are muddled or they may go round the houses trying to get to the point.
  6. Most speech sound errors are resolved by secondary age but there may be some residual errors present. A minority of students may present with an articulation disorder such as Childhood Apraxia of Speech or Dysarthria which may have a significant impact on functional communication – support from a Speech and Language Therapist may be required. 

  Some children and young people have difficulties using their language skills socially with others (sometimes called pragmatics skills). For example knowing how we speak to our friends is different to how we speak to a member of staff; reading social cues of other people; knowing when to ask for help and when to wait; knowing when to stop talking because people aren’t listening or you’ve gone off topic etc. 

  So why might communication break down? Speech, language and communication needs may be part of a co-occurring diagnosis such as Autism, Down syndrome or part of a Learning Difficulty. Environmental factors such as trauma or attachment issues can have a huge impact on the wiring of our brain for interaction and language.

  We might see a pattern if we look into the family history. Poor communication skills could pass down as part of a cycle of deprivation, but genetics can also play a role in wiring us to find learning and using language difficult. If the child or young person has a standalone language difficulty – this would be called Developmental Language Disorder.

  Please click on the link in the top right of your screen to watch this 2 minute video about Developmental Language Disorder and then return to continue with the presentation. If the link does not work please type the URL shown at the bottom of the screen into google to access the You Tube video https://youtu.be/rwOfkj0dj_0

  Now we will look at the impact of speech, language and communication needs throughout a child or young person’s life. What happens in these early years of development can go on to have a significant impact on later developmental outcomes. What is happening by the end of the pre-school age is very important! Did you know that vocabulary size at the age of 5 is an indicator of GCSE performance?

  Of children living in areas of social disadvantage, 50% start primary school without the levels of speech language and communication that they need. 20% of children aged 4-5 years with a language disorder have emotional or behaviour problems. Other research has shown that, of children with identified speech, language and communication needs, only 15% achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of primary school, compared with 61% of all pupils.

  Being able to communicate effectively as a child or young person is a ‘protective factor’ for mental health. The 2022 Royal College Speech and Language Therapist good standards document for supporting Social, Emotional and Mental Health states that staff should be trained in understanding how to support children and young people through different methods of communication and are seen to use appropriate, evidence-based communication strategies.

  Despite the significant prevalence of children and young people with language difficulties in secondary schools, school census data report a fall in the numbers of young people identified with speech, language and communication needs compared to primary school.  However, studies do not support this – over time children and young people with speech, language and communication needs can make progress in language development but will remain significantly behind their peers; the underlying language deficit remains. This discrepancy in reporting may be that as individuals get older their social communication difficulties become their primary area of need and the focus is no longer on language. 

  We know that 81% of children and young people with emotional and behavioural disorders have unidentified language difficulties. Children and young people with poor vocabulary skills are 2x as likely to be unemployed when they reach adulthood and 60-90% of offenders have undiagnosed speech, language and communication needs. 

  Whilst statistics like this can be difficult to hear, it is important to note that not all children and young people with speech, language and communication needs will develop mental health difficulties and with continued support, they have the potential to use their language skills to do well at secondary school. 

  It can be useful to think about the physiological changes happening in the adolescent brain, for all children and young people, not just those with speech, language and communication needs. This research is part of the work of John Coleman, a clinical psychologist with a wealth of experience working in both the medical and educational arenas. 
  Up until the year 2000, researchers believed that the brain stopped developing at the end of childhood. It is only through developments in scanning technology that they have learnt about the many changes the brain goes through in adolescence. 

  Connections are being formed and, as messages travel around the brain, they support effective functioning. Imagine it is like a grass path – if you walk along the path once, you might not see your footsteps behind you but walk it several times and the pathway will become clearer. So, if you don’t use parts of your brain, you lose them, and the more frequently used areas become stronger. Therefore, if a child or young person is not in school, not accessing positive opportunities, and not engaging in learning repeatedly, then parts of the brain are lost. 

  You have probably heard the saying that all behaviour is a form of communication. So, what behaviours do you see in children and young people with speech, language and communication needs? Pause the video for a few minutes to think about this and then continue. 

  Let’s look at what some of those behaviours might be on the surface and what could be underlying that. This is not a complete list and there may of course be other reasons for behaviour.

  • You see the child or young person getting into trouble but what you can’t see is that they have difficulty understanding verbal requests and instructions or require additional time to process information so they could appear defiant.
  • The child or young person does not pay attention, but have you considered that a student who does not understand is likely to stop listening or find other ways of occupying themselves?  Do they need the information presenting in a different way?
  • A child or young person who appears unmotivated could have poor auditory memory skills. They may forget to bring things from home despite reminders or may only remember part of the task you told them to do.
  • You see the child or young person displaying odd or strange behaviours which may be as a result of that individual having a literal understanding or perhaps they don’t find social interactions meaningful to them. This can have a huge impact on forming quality friendships.  
  • If you didn’t understand or had difficulties forming sentences the easiest response to give would be to say “yes” or “no” rather than try to explain yourself or your actions, this could be perceived as the child lying.
  • And finally making yourself understood is tiring and frustrating. We may see aggressive behaviours continuing long after others of their age due to difficulties in being able to explain, negotiate or problem solve. 

  If you would like to find out more information about speech, language and communication needs in secondary schools, you can watch our other videos: ‘Identifying Speech language and communication needs’ and ‘Supporting Speech language and communication needs in secondary school’

  Or visit our website by following the link shown on the screen. Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication. Thank you

• Identifying speech, language and communication needs

  Video transcript

  Welcome to this video ‘Identifying Speech, Language and Communication Needs?’. This is the second of 3 videos about supporting speech, language and communication needs in the secondary years. 

  You may find it useful to watch video 1 ‘What is speech, language and communication?’ before watching this video. 

  The videos are best viewed in order to give a comprehensive overview of speech, language and communication needs, but each video is also a useful standalone unit. 

  In this video we will consider what typical speech, language and communication development looks like. Explore some tools to help identify need and look in a bit more detail about how children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (often shortened to SLCN) may present. 

  In order to feel confident in identifying speech, language and communication needs, it is really helpful to know what is typical or expected of children and young people at different ages. 

  ‘What is typical talk at secondary?’ is a useful starting point in developing your understanding of this area. The poster identifies milestones that children and young people are likely to be at with their communication. It can be downloaded for free from Speech and Language UK 

  Universally Speaking is a booklet that gives more detail in the areas of:

  • Understanding spoken language and verbal reasoning
  • Vocabulary
  • Sentence structure and narrative, and
  • Social Interaction

  Universally speaking is broken down ‘By age 11’, ‘By age 13-14’ and ‘By age 18’. Each section is arranged as the ‘young person should be able to…’ and ‘How to check it out…’ Using your observations you can use the booklets to find out whether the child or young person is on the right track, and what to do if you have concerns about any of their communication abilities. Universally Speaking can be downloaded for free from Speech and Language UK 

  If through observation and information gathering, you have concerns about a child or young person’s speech, language and communication skills and want to get a bit more detail, you can use a resource such as the Progression Tools.

  The secondary Progression Tools aim to support teaching staff to identify young people who may be struggling to develop their speech, language, and communication skills. They can also be used to track the progression of these skills over time or following interventions.
  The scoring gives you a clear red, amber or green result for different areas that indicates whether support is required and at what level. 

  Secondary progression tools are available for ages 11-12, 13-14, and 16-18 and include all the materials you need. They can be purchased directly from Speech and Language UK. Please click on the link shown on the screen now to access Speech and Language UKs website. www.speechandlanguage.org.uk and then return to the presentation. Alternatively note the website address at the bottom of the screen now for future reference. 

  The speech, language and communication toolkit for schools is a guide to the whole process of supporting speech, language and communication skills within the school environment. Here, you can find information about:

  • Making speech, language and communication a priority in your school
  • How to identify SLCN and plan support
  • Putting the right level of support into place
  • Strategies that can be used within the classroom
  • Additional targeted support
  • Making effective onward referrals
  • Sources of further information

  The toolkit can be accessed via our website or by following the link shown on the screen now.

  The transition from primary to secondary school is a milestone in all children’s lives and brings with it many new demands on language and learning. This is not a complete list but highlights some of the key areas that can pose a challenge for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. 

  Children and young people are faced with multiple people every day each with varied styles and modes of communication. This includes teachers and other staff members but also different peer groups. 

  In interacting with a wide range of individuals, children and young people are required to adapt their expressive language style accordingly. This includes both verbal and written language. 

  The expectation is to work much more independently such as working without adult support, taking notes, completing homework, navigating from one lesson to another. This also draws heavily on organisation and time management skills, which are needed for other tasks such as prioritising classroom work. 

  Effective working memory skills are essential to processing multi-step instructions and large pieces of information as well as integrating information from a variety of sources. Children and young people are required to master increasingly decontextualised and abstract materials and use logical and critical thinking to evaluate information. And as we know, for many children and young people their speech, language and communication needs may co-occur alongside ADHD, Dyspraxia, ASD, Dyslexia or other condition. 

  We will now have a brief look at what you might notice in the different areas of speech, language and communication. These lists are not exhaustive and your observations will help give you a full picture of the child or young person’s needs. 

  Speech sound difficulties have usually resolved by secondary school age. However you may notice when a student cannot make themselves easily understood. This could be because of poor sound articulation or maybe they speak quickly, with all words rolling together. Stammering may have been evident since primary school or it may start in the secondary years. 

  During the secondary years, children and young people are using longer narratives and using language to negotiate, compromise, resolve conflict, develop relationships, manage & regulate emotions.

  You might notice difficulties learning, retaining and recalling vocabulary.  Sentences may be incomplete or contain grammatical errors. Stories could be difficult to follow or it may seem like they’re making it up because of the pauses, repetitions and confusion.
  The child or young person might find it hard to talk about emotions or find themselves unable to explain their actions. And remember if they can’t say it, they can’t write it. 

  Vocabulary is a hugely important factor in being able to access the curriculum and achieve your academic potential as well as form and maintain successful social relationships, yet it is one of the most significant problems experienced by children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. 

  Research suggests that people who were read to as children scored higher on vocabulary tests as adults. And that higher quality reading material, leads to greater vocabulary scores. 
  How many new words from textbooks alone, do you think students are exposed to in secondary school? …The answer is 10,000. 

  It is important to distinguish between the words that are used, expressive vocabulary, and the words that are understood, receptive vocabulary, sometimes there can be a discrepancy here. 

  Acquisition of academic vocabulary can be a stumbling block for many children and young people, but especially those with speech, language and communication needs. These students need more direct teaching of vocabulary and concepts.

  Children and young people are learning new, often complex vocabulary and language structures.  They begin to understand less concrete language & follow more complex directions. Students are also learning to separate fact from opinion and work out information that is not explicitly stated. 

  You may notice children and young people who struggle to follow instructions, or process lots of information at once. They might not complete tasks fully or rely on copying their peers. 

  Recall of previous learning or past events can be difficult and students may struggle to use inferencing skills. Children and young people may seem disorganised, forgetful or unmotivated. These difficulties can lead to frustration and behavioural outbursts. 

  We will now look at inference, non-literal language and understanding of time in a bit more detail. 

  Look at this picture – what do you think has happened? What conclusions can you draw? What assumptions can you make? However we phrase this question, we are expecting you to use your inference skills. That is to take what you know and make a reasonable prediction/conclusion from what you see. Inferencing relates to our ability to uncover hidden meaning, use reasoning and prediction skills to draw a conclusion. We might refer to this as 'reading between the lines’. 
  Our ability to infer information is influenced by:

  • Our General cognitive levels
  • Our Experiences
  • Cultural background
  • Vocabulary knowledge and
  • Working memory

  Inference can be very challenging for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. 

  As children and young people get older, they begin to think more abstractly, and they become less literal in their interpretations. They develop a more sophisticated understanding of idiomatic and figurative language, allowing them to understand and make up jokes and riddles whose humour often stems from linguistic ambiguity and double meanings. Understanding of idioms can be very dependent upon age, cognitive level and experience. 
  If a student fails to follow simple, concrete language, non-literal language will be far too complex to understand

  37% of teacher’s instructions contain multiple meanings and 20% contain at least one idiom – we often use this language without actually realising it so we must try to increase our awareness and explain non-literal language, in context where needed. 

  There are many complexities involved in learning about time concepts and many different skills required which make demands on memory, numeracy, language, perceptual and visuo-spatial abilities and general cognitive functioning. 

  Time is usually taught through the primary school years, and it is then assumed that this has been understood and is well established. Research has shown that a large proportion of secondary aged pupils with speech, language and communication needs and young offenders, have very poor knowledge and sense of time. Because time is not routinely taught at secondary level, these difficulties often then persist into adulthood. Consequently, some adults develop coping strategies or lifestyles to mask or compensate for their time difficulties. Those around them often don’t realise the extent and impact of these difficulties.

  Time Matters is a practical resource to help children and young people learn about time. The content covers a range of time-related subjects from highly practical skills related to teaching clock and calendar time, to functional activities to develop an individual’s ability to estimate time and organise their time effectively.

  Communication is our ability to say the right thing, at the right time, in the right way. Using language skills socially with others is sometimes called pragmatic skills. Children and young people at secondary school must communicate with a much wider range of individuals than they did at primary school and their pragmatic language skills are really tested. You might see students who are unable to negotiate their way out of a tricky situation, or who get into trouble with their peers because of a lack of understanding of ‘banter’. 

  Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs might be more at risk of being left out, bullied, or having positive peer interactions and if you can’t achieve positive social experiences your mental health will likely be impacted.

  If you would like to find out more information about speech, language and communication needs in secondary schools, you can watch our other videos: ‘What is speech, language and communication’ and ‘Supporting Speech language and communication needs in secondary school’.

  Or visit our website by following the link shown on the screen. Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you.
   

• Supporting speech, language and communication needs in secondary schools

  Video transcript

  Welcome to this video ‘Supporting Speech, Language and Communication Needs in secondary school?’. This is the third of 3 videos about supporting speech, language and communication needs in the secondary years. 

  You may find it useful to watch video 1 ‘What is speech, language and communication?’ and video 2 ‘Identifying speech, language and communication needs’ before watching this video. 
  The videos are best viewed in order to give a comprehensive overview of speech, language and communication needs, but each video is also a useful standalone unit. 

  In this video we will explore useful strategies for supporting speech, language and communication. As part of the Bercow review, a focus group of children and young people with speech, language and communication needs were asked about the support they receive in school. 

  Children and young people reported not liking it when there was too much teacher talk or the teachers shout. They reported that learning was hard when people talked too much or were too noisy. They did not like having to work in complete silence. The children and young people in the focus group reported that they did not like it when there was lots of writing or when too much time was spent on “naughty children”

  One of the easiest things to do to support understanding and expressive language is give more time. How long do teachers wait before expecting an answer from a student? … Research shows that many teachers wait for less than one second when they ask a question.  

  Increasing wait time for up to seven seconds leads to many benefits. We tend to use the 10 second rule to ensure adequate time is given. This is a well evidenced, simple and effective strategy every adult could use. Some of the benefits include reducing pressure on the child or young person, giving them more time to process information and formulate their response. This can lead to longer and more accurate responses, less students saying “I don’t know”, more volunteered responses and more questions asked by students. 

  There can be a lot of adult talk in the classroom. Along with giving time, we need to create space for this information to be stored. It is much easier to take on board small chunks of information, than one large piece – much like eating a bar of chocolate! So, break down what you are saying into small manageable pieces of information. Pause slightly between each one, to give time for processing. Some children and young people might need to complete the first part of the task before any further steps or information is given. Imagine you are working with an interpreter, you would give the information, allow time for it to be translated and then give more information. 

  90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. As the saying goes – a picture can paint a thousand words. Visual timetables, word mats, maps, diagrams – they all help children and young people see what you mean. They can reduce anxiety and build independence.
  Visuals are permanent, they have no attitude or tone and the information they give is consistent. 

  Building on the top tips so far, task plans offer a great way of visually chunking information for the child or young person and giving them time to process and act upon the information. They also support independent working as the student can refer back to the plan throughout the activity. 
  Depending on the needs of the child or young person, they may need a task plan created with all pictures, they may be able to manage a written plan or they may need a combination of both. It is best to work with the child or young person to see what suits them. The task is broken down into smaller, more manageable chunks. These can be removed or ticked off on completion. It can include a list of equipment and resources needed to complete the task too. 

  What are your immediate thoughts from looking at this word - cross? … Vocabulary is multifaceted and words with multiple meanings, can be very challenging for a child or young person with speech, language and communication needs. When teaching new vocabulary, it is important to acknowledge other uses or meanings of the word and talk about these in a variety of contexts. 

  Modelling is a really effective strategy to use with children and young people who have difficulties using correct speech sounds, vocabulary, grammar or syntax. Anyone interacting with the child or young person can use modelling, but it is important to get the balance right of how much we model back and when we do this, so as not to cause frustration or embarrassment for the student. 

  Look at the examples on the screen – you are likely doing this naturally without even realising it. The green speech bubble is an example of the child or young person’s speech and language and an example of how the adult could model back is given in purple.

  • “I’ll pay the pianio” … “Great you can play the piano” You can put a slight emphasis on the sounds or words you are correcting.
  • “The lava come out” … “the volcano erupted” In this example, topic specific vocabulary is modelled in the correct tense.
  • “Him go football on Wednesday” … ”That’s right, he goes to football on a Wednesday”. Here the grammar is modelled back correctly.

  Never ask the child or young person to repeat what you have said, it is enough that they hear a good example of speech or language modelling

  Not surprisingly the focus group of children and young people interviewed as part of the Bercow review agree with everything you have just seen and heard! This is what they said adults can to do to help them in school. It is helpful when the adult is good at explaining things, uses pictures or other visual support and gives choices. It is also helpful when the adult makes learning fun and makes it easy to ask questions

  Children and young people reported that they like it when the adult checks that they have understood and encourages them. They also reported it is helpful when the adult doesn’t speak too fast, gives them time to talk and is patient. All of these points can be summarised by the children and young people who said “I like it when you help me with the work”

  If you would like to find out more information about speech, language and communication needs in secondary schools, you can watch our other videos: ‘What is speech, language and communication’ and ‘Identifying Speech language and communication needs’

  Or visit our website by following the link shown on the screen. Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you.

   

Educational settings and school information and advice

We have developed a series of videos which contain information on supporting a child’s communication needs within educational settings.

• Communication friendly environments

  Video transcript

  >> Narrator: Welcome to this video about communication friendly environments. This video is primarily aimed at school and setting staff, though parents may find some of the themes useful to consider for the home environment. 

  Communication friendly environments encourage the development of good communication skills for all and create a more inclusive environment for those who need additional support.

  Research has shown that to achieve a communication friendly environment we must think about 3 key areas:

  • The physical environment and the context within which learning takes place (including how we can use visual supports).
  • The ways in which children are engaged and the way we talk as adults.
  • The opportunities which are created to support language development within the classroom. 

  This video will help you to develop your understanding of each of these 3 key areas

  You can use the markers in the video to skip forwards or back to any chapters you need to revisit or want more information on.

  Throughout this video we will use the terms child or children to refer to children and young people. 

  At the basic level we might think about the physical environment in terms of noise, lighting and the actual space we have, where children sit for example.

  What role do these factors play in your classroom? Think about how the children arrive in the morning, do bright lights and lots of chatter over-stimulate the children. Are they sleepy in the afternoon when the sun has been shining through the windows all morning? How do they transition from one activity to the next and how do you manage this?

  Think about these environmental aspects from the child’s perspective. Are you aware that the radiator at the back of the classroom clinks all day? Did you know that the light in the middle of the room flickers or that certain tables have a draught from the door? 

  The effects of persistent noise exposure on children include - deficits in sustained attention, poorer auditory discrimination, poorer memory for tasks and poorer reading ability and school performance.

  Do children in your school have access to calmer, quieter spaces throughout the day, that are perhaps less visually distracting as well?

  This could be a tent, cushions & blankets or a break out spaces in corridor.

  You might need to get creative where space is a premium or think about how spaces can be used for more than one function. 

  We are all energised by sunlight and children learn more effectively in spaces with natural light but be mindful of the temperature of a room that utilises lots of sunlight.

  Light neutral colours create a calming effect. Deep, warm colours create cosy intimate spaces whilst bold colours can be over stimulating and affect concentration.

  A well laid out room that has clearly defined spaces creates opportunities for conversation with adults and peers and can reinforce understanding and use of related vocabulary.

  Here we can see areas for maths, writing, construction and reading.

  Book areas should contain picture books, first language texts, children’s interest books and fact books – which can also be included in related displays. 

  Relevant resources should be easily accessible to the children.

  Labelling with words & symbols or pictures makes resources more accessible to a wider range of children, including those learning English as an additional language.

  Children can be more independent if they know where to find what they need and where to store things at the end of the activity.

  Displays should be visually appealing but they should also reflect and support children’s learning. 

  Think about displays in your setting – are they child friendly, are they interactive, do they promote discussion and offer multi-sensory learning? 

  We will now look in more detail at the role of visual strategies as part of the communication environment, but please do be mindful of how visually distracting your environment is or could become. 

  Words are fleeting and in order for the child to process that information they must use several skills including paying attention, listening, processing, remembering, analysing and acting upon the information. We can use visual strategies and supports to supplement spoken language.

  They can help make the spoken information more static and consistent which can help the children to process and respond more effectively. 

  Visuals can include objects, symbols, pictures and drawings, photographs, natural gestures, signs, and not forgetting words. 

  Most classrooms have a visual timetable on display. Depending on the age or level of need in your class, this may be displayed for the whole day, just a morning or an afternoon.

  A symbol package like Widgit can help you easily make visual resources using consistent symbols, which can be of huge benefit to children with Speech, language and communication needs, as they move around the school and transition between year groups.

  Some children may use more personalised resources such as a now & next board or a timeline.

  It is important to understand the symbolic level of children who you support. Some children might need an object to depict activities, such as a book for literacy or cutlery for lunchtime, others may need a photograph of the real thing for example the school library or dining hall. Most children can access symbols and for older children (such as those at secondary level) the words may be sufficient. 

  For some children visuals play a vital role in supporting their ability to express their wants and needs.

  Personalised resources such as choice boards, communication boards & books might be used by some children.

  For more information on using communication systems please see the video Introduction to AAC on our website. 

  There are many visual resources you can use to support all aspects of learning.

  Mind Maps are an excellent way of tapping into visual memory skills to support retention and recall of information, especially in the secondary years. For more information on how to use Mind Maps please search for Tony Buzan on the internet.

  There are various frameworks you can use to provide a visual representation of instructions. Here is a task plan that you can prepare in advance, or ideally with the child before they start an activity. Task plans can support understanding and promote independent working.

  As with any new strategy, you will need to spend time teaching the child how to use it. 

  Each school will have its own variation of visuals to support vocabulary. The important thing to remember is that we teach children about the meaning of the word (i.e. category, description, function etc) but also about the phonological aspect of the word i.e. sounds and syllables.

  Narrative frameworks such as these can be used to develop spoken and written language.
  You might use them conversationally, for example ‘First tell me where you went at the weekend’ ‘Now tell me who you went with’.

  They might be used to re-tell a familiar story or event or to plan a new story.

  For more information about how you can support a child’s vocabulary and narrative development. 

  Having looked in detail at the physical environment and the role of visual strategies in creating a communication friendly environment, we will now think about the role of the adult in the environment.

  It is really important to have an awareness of the attention levels of the children and embed supportive strategies such as planning in rest breaks, using timers, giving specific praise and accommodating any individual requirements, which might include needing to move or fidget.

  Simple strategies such as saying the child’s name, getting down to their level and checking that the child has understood you are good universal practices. We have already considered the impact of noise and will look at the adult’s use of language in a moment. 

  If a child is making grammatical errors or using incorrect pronunciation, interpret what you think they are saying and model the correct language. For example, if they say “Bobby climb top of tree”, you model back, “Bobby has climbed to the top of the tree!”  if they say “wainbow” you could say “yes what a lovely rainbow”

  Do not draw direct attention to their error, or ask them to copy you, but they might do this naturally anyway.

  Repeat and expand is a really useful strategy as it gives children the model they need for the next stage in their language journey. For example, if a child says ‘train' you can add a word so that it becomes 'big train' or 'fast train' or 'drive the train’.

  For children who are moving on to saying sentences you can add another clause or phrase to expand this, for example, 'big train' becomes 'yes, you're driving a big train’.

  Speech and Language Therapists sometimes refer to this as ‘match +1’.

  Questions are an important part of communication and learning but we need to ensure we are providing good language models, and this happens when we comment rather than question. Speech and Language Therapists often recommend the 1 in 5 rule. This means for every five things you say, only one should be a question, and the others should be comments.

  Think about the questions that you are asking; often these are testing questions rather than genuine need-to-know questions. Instead of asking “what is it?”, you could name the object.

  Instead of asking “what are you doing?”, “you could name the action”. By commenting, rather than asking a question, you are providing language for the child to learn from.

  Allowing extra time may seem an impossible task in a busy classroom, but it is a well evidenced, simple and effective strategy everyone can use. Even 10 seconds reduces pressure on the child and allows them to formulate a longer and more accurate response.

  Given this time children will ask more, better quality questions and say “I don’t know” less. More children will volunteer answers,  less able children are more likely to contribute and turn taking is encouraged in the classroom. 

  Finally let’s think about what opportunities we create for children to communicate.

  Let’s start by ensuring that all means of communication are accepted and praised, including Non Verbal Communication or communicating through an alternative system.

  The school day provides many opportunities for communication and your school probably already includes small group or partner work throughout the day. These opportunities encourage children to become actively involved in their learning by giving time to formulate their ideas, build their confidence in sharing their ideas and develop their speaking and listening skills.

  You may offer interactive book reading, which is a great opportunity to model, recast and expand children’s language. It allows open ended questions to be used and to expose children to language that is perhaps slightly more advanced than their current language level.  

  There is a wealth of research showing that interactive or shared book reading has a strong, positive impact on children’s language development.

  Creating an environment where children feel safe and supported to speak out is essential.

  Children should feel safe to say they don’t understand or to ask for repetition. They should know it is ok to ask questions.

  It is important to empower children by teaching them ways in which they can use their ‘voice’ and take responsibility for their own learning. If a child feels able to express themselves this can positively impact on self-esteem, engagement with learning and behaviour.

  Plan time for adults to engage in structured conversations with the children and think beyond the classroom – perhaps on the gate as children arrive in the morning, during breaktimes or in the dining hall.

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you!

• Speech, language and communication toolkit for early years settings

  Video transcript

  The new early years communication and language toolkit has been designed to help professionals begin to identify and offer early support for children's communication needs.

  It's been developed by local NHS speech and language therapy services working alongside our local authority partners to be used with children across Bedfordshire and Luton.

  The toolkit can be used when practitioners feel that a child may have communication needs or if they are not meeting the expected levels of development. The toolkit is divided into three sections to guide practitioners in accessing local support, screening communication needs, and then implementing advice.

  Section 1 gives information on local services and includes local pathways of support to bring together the breadth of signposting options available. There is also lots of advice on how to use the toolkit, including using it when children have English as an additional language, and also involving parents in the screening process.

  Section two contains the screening tools themselves. The screeners are based on the building blocks of communication, which are used widely in our training and advice. There is a quick checklist, which should be completed first to help you identify the child’s areas of need. If you have limited contact with the child, for example, you are completing a one-off home visit, you may wish to complete this to start the support and offer initial advice to parents, and then hand over to the child’s setting to continue with the screening process. The quick checklist will help you to identify which of the building blocks of communication the child is finding difficult. You can then go on to complete the linked full screeners to gather more information. You don't need to complete all of the full screeners, just the ones where you think the child has a need. 

  The last section of the toolkit helps you to implement support strategies for the child. Look at which building blocks and questions the child found difficult when completing the screening tools, and then consider how to support that child to move to the next stage of development. We've provided a range of resources in this section to help you, which can be used by parents and professionals.

  We've also included a profile for you to log and monitor your plan of support and the strategies you will be using, or you may wish to use your usual send, support plan, and review progress termly.

  Should you need to make onwards referrals, you can include copies of the screeners and the support you have implemented within referral forms.

  For full training on using the toolkit, you can access one of our face-to-face sessions. All of the details can be found by looking on the training section of this website.

• Speech, language and communication toolkit for schools

  Video transcript

  Welcome to this video about the Speech, Language and Communication Toolkit for schools.

  In this video you will:

  • Gain an overview of the toolkit including how to identify pupils with speech, language and communication needs, often abbreviated to SLCN
  • Understand how to put the right level of support into place, and
  • Make effective onward referrals if needed

  It is really important that SLCN are identified at the earliest opportunity so support can be given at the right level. Not all pupils with SLCN will require specialist provision. The toolkit is a resource to help you identify pupils with SLCN and know how to support them, which may or may not include making an onward referral.

  Click on the link to access the Toolkit. This will open in a separate browser. For the remainder of the video, it will be helpful to be able to see the Toolkit while we discuss its features.

  The Toolkit is divided into 4 sections:

  • Section 1 introduction to the Toolkit
  • Section 2 Identifying and planning support for Speech Language and Communication needs.
  • Section 3 Outcome and Resources
  • Section 4 Is the Appendix

  If you are using the Toolkit from an electronic device, you can navigate the pages by clicking on the headings. The Toolkit is designed for easy use it includes the key messages and quick definition boxes which summarise the important information in that section. You can also assess further reading materials by clicking on the links titled professional development resources.

  Section 1: This is the introduction to the Toolkit. This section of the Toolkit highlights the importance of every child and young person developing speech language and communication needs. It also includes guidance on how you can make this a priority within your school.

  Time to pause. Please navigate to pages 5 to 10 to access section 1 of the Toolkit. Spend a few minutes familiarising yourself with this section. You might wish to make a note of anything you found particularly useful or a key message about this section that you would share with colleagues. Please pause the video and return once you have reviewed this section.

  By the end of section 1, you should be able to answer questions like:

  • What percentage of pupils have long-term, persistent SLCN and may need specialist support to make progress?
  • What do the terms ‘speech’, ‘language’ and ‘communication’ refer to?
  • What impact can SLCN have on learning, behaviour, social development and emotional development?

  The Intervention model is referred to on page 6 of the Toolkit. It is generally expected that pupils will be given certain levels of support according to their identified needs. Not all pupils with SLCN will require specialist provision. Pupils may move from accessing ‘teaching for all’, known as universal support, to needing additional interventions. The picture may change as you gather more information about their communication needs. 
  Once SLCN are identified, a pupil does not sit exclusively at one level, and may move between levels, but all pupils need universal support. Ideas are given for supporting pupils at the universal and targeted levels later in the Toolkit. Targeted pupils may only require a boost through additional interventions, and do not necessarily need continued involvement from a specialist service, like Speech and Language Therapy.

  Tracking of progress will determine if a pupil requires highly individualised interventions, and this is when referral for specialist support may be appropriate.

  Section 2: This is identifying and planning support for speech language and communication needs. This section of the Toolkit focuses on the assess, plan, do review cycle. It gives guidance on how to identify child and young people with speech language and communication needs. How to involve children and young people and their parents and how to create person centred outcomes.

  Time to pause. Please navigate to pages 11 to 19 to access section 2 of the Toolkit. Spend a few minutes familiarising yourself with this section. You might wish to make a note of anything you found particularly useful or a key message about this section that you would share with colleagues. Please pause the video and return once you have reviewed this section.

  By the end of section 2, you should be able to answer questions like:

  • What factors should be considered when identifying SLCN?
  • What are the Progression Tools and what do they assess?
  • Where can I get more information on talking to parents or carers about their child’s SLCN?

  Page 16 of the Toolkit refers to identifying SLCN. You can use whichever developmental norms, checklists, or tools you are familiar with to build a profile of the pupil’s communication skills.

  Shown is the ‘assess-plan-do-review’ cycle that schools follow in the process of gathering evidence for a number of agencies, and Speech and Language Therapy is generally the same with a handful of exceptions.

  Some examples of checklists to help you with the identification process are:

  Universally Speaking: This is a series of FREE booklets that highlight what a pupil should be doing at each age. You can use the booklets to check if the pupils you work with are on the right track, identify what helps them learn to talk and listen, and guide you with what to do if you have concerns about any of their communication skills. They are available in ages 0 to 5 years, 5 to 11 years, and 11 to 18 years.

  Communicating the Curriculum: This is a FREE practical resource for school years 1 to 6 only, and is linked with the Universally Speaking document. This resource was put together by Speech and Language Therapists and Education Staff to enable schools to successfully define and monitor pupil’s progress of language with reference to the National Curriculum. This resource can be used for whole class profiling, or with individual pupils, and can act as a trigger for any concerns about attainment for individual pupils. 

  An additional tool to help you identify if pupils need targeted interventions, or specialist support, including referral to Speech and Language Therapy, are the Progression Tools. These have been produced for education staff to carry out and provide a relatively quick way of determining progress against age related norms and provide more information about how their communication skills are progressing.
  Purchasing the Progression Tools will provide you with all materials needed to assess the areas shown. A final score can be cross matched with a Red, Amber or Green rating (also known as a RAG rating) that complements the intervention model we looked at previously. 

  The Progression Tools can be used on individual pupils, small groups, or whole classes, and assessments can be repeated at a later date for comparison.

  Whilst you can still use the Toolkit without purchasing the Progression Tools, using the two alongside each other will give a better understanding of the pupil’s SLCN, and will guide you with planning appropriate support. The Progression Tools are a highly effective assessment tool that can be used repeatedly.
   
  We will now take a look at how they can be used.

  Follow the Link on the screen to watch a useful video on how to use the Progression Tools. If you are already familiar with the tools, please feel free to skip this section.

  The primary set includes assessments for ages 4, 5 to 6, 7 to 8, and 9 to 10, while the secondary set includes assessments for ages 11 to 12, 13 to 14, and 16 to 18. There is also an early years set for ages 3 and 4 if this is of interest to your school or setting. 

  Section 3: Outcome and Resources This section of the Toolkit focuses on the support you can put into place at School. It’s divided into universal, targeted and specialist support. 
  All pupils should have support to develop speech language and communication skills within the classroom and school setting, this is known as universal support.

  Included in the Toolkit is advice on the physical environment, high quality classroom talk, vocabulary teaching, and adult use of language. 

  Some pupils require additional support and may be included in individual or group interventions at school. This is known as targeted support. Support will address the area of need identified. The design of this Toolkit makes it easy to plan support following assessment. 

  For each area you will find a description or indicator of need, strategies that can be used by teachers or teaching assistants within the classroom, this is shown in the green boxes. And published programme of resources which can be used for individuals or group interventions indicated by the orange boxes. 

  A few pupils may require specialist support in order to make progress. Pupils are likely to be referred and known to the Speech and Language therapy service at this level. We recommend schools use the Toolkit to support referrals and put immediate support in place for the child or young person. The information provided by referrers is invaluable, including which area of speech language and communication the pupil is finding difficult and how the pupil has responded to strategies and interventions that the school have put into place.

  Time to pause. Please navigate to pages 20 to 46 to access section 3 of the Toolkit. This is the part of the Toolkit that you will likely refer back to most often as it contains the information you need for supporting pupils at the right level. Spend some time familiarising yourself with this section. You might wish to make a note of anything you found particularly useful or a key message about this section that you would share with colleagues. Please pause the video and return once you have reviewed this section.

  By the end of section 3, you should be able to answer questions like:

  • What are the key features of a communication friendly environment?
  • What are the 6 areas that are focused on at the targeted support level?
  • What is meant by functional impact?

  Page 46 of the Toolkit refers to collating information for onward referrals. Education staff are in the best position, along with parents or carers, to provide the required information about a pupil’s speech and language skills, their difficulties, and the potential impact these are having on the pupil’s social interaction, and their ability to access the curriculum. 
   
  Through using the Progression Tools (or another checklist or tool) you should know what level of support a pupil needs, i.e., universal, targeted, or specialist.

  Those pupils who require targeted support need to have strategies or interventions trialled as part of the ‘assess-plan-do-review’ cycle before referring to Speech and Language Therapy. Section 3 of the Toolkit guides you with recommended strategies and interventions. This level of support may be all that is needed for these pupils, and onward referral to Speech and Language Therapy may not be indicated. There are a few exceptions to this rule; pupils who present with stammering or severe speech sound difficulties should be referred as soon as this is identified.

  If referral is required, education staff should provide information about what has been implemented to support the pupil. Using this information, the Speech and Language Therapy service can then ensure that the pupils who really require specialist support can access the service for an assessment. 

  Follow the link on screen to access more information from Speech and Language UK on planning and writing effective referrals to speech and language therapy services.

  Time to pause. Please navigate to pages 47 to 63 to access section 4 of the Toolkit. Spend a few minutes familiarising yourself with the appendices. You might wish to make a note of any you found particularly useful or a resource, term, or link that that you would share with colleagues. Please pause the video and return once you have reviewed this section.

  By the end of section 4, you should be able to answer questions like:

  • Can the toolkit be used with pupils who have a wider developmental delay or learning disability?
  • What is Developmental Language Disorder?
  • What can support me to identify if a pupil’s language abilities are due to EAL or SLCN?

  If you have identified through the Toolkit, and perhaps the Progression Tools, that onward referral to Speech and Language Therapy is needed, access our website to complete the referral form. You can click on the link to be taken to our referral page.

  Referrals for school age pupils must come from education staff, unless the child or young person is home-schooled, not in education, employment, or training, or are being transferred from another Speech and Language Therapy service. The Progression Tools are a highly effective assessment tool that can be used repeatedly. 

  Do not signpost school age pupils to their GP for referring; GP referrals are generally not accepted.

  For children or young people who are home-schooled or not in education, employment or training, the referral form can be completed by their parent or carer, a professional or other appropriate adult who is working with them.

  Ensure you send evidence of your observations to support your referral. 

  Once a referral is received, it is triaged based on the information provided. At this stage, it is either not accepted and subsequently returned to the referrer with the reason why, or it is accepted. If so, a Speech and Language Therapist is assigned to the referral, and contact will be made, usually with the school, to book an initial assessment. Upon completing the assessment, the Speech and Language Therapist will either open a package of support, which we will look at next, or give advice and end the episode of care.

  Across all of our services we offer children and young people ‘packages of support’. This may include comprehensive assessment, indirect or direct intervention, specialised training, and advice to other agencies.

  The support a pupil receives from Speech and Language Therapy is based on assessment of their SLCN as well as information from parents or carers and education staff, and the impact of their communication difficulty. The Package of Support will ‘look’ different for different pupils and may vary over time depending on things such as the severity of need, the environment, and the rate of progress. It also depends on what other support is in place to support the pupil’s SLCN. Speech and Language Therapists often work as facilitators to support parents or carers and education staff with the pupil’s SLCN. The biggest impact on a pupil’s communication skills will come from the supporting adults around them. 

  A package of support is therefore based on agreed targets, support to meet those targets, and an agreed timeframe for that support.

  A pupil may need more than one package of support, however the aim of all packages of support is to enable pupils, and the people who support them, to maximise their skills.

  Following a package of support the pupil’s needs and any progress that has been made will be reviewed. We will look at how well the speech and language interventions have worked, and also identify if there are any areas which need further support.

  The pupil may need more than one package of support, and this will be agreed with you and parents or carers.

  Alternatively, the presenting communication need may have improved or is being well managed in school and or at home. This is really positive and will give the pupil the best possible outcomes for their communication development.

  At this stage, the package of support from the Speech and Language service will come to an end because the pupil currently has everything in place to achieve their goals.

  A further request for support can be made if there are specific concerns that require specialist involvement or if a new need arises.

  For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website by following the link shown on the screen. 

  The resources section has lots of useful information for supporting speech, language and communication needs and the training section hosts a range of free to access to videos as well bookable workshops. 

  Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

  Thank you!