Please take a look at the Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) Tool for Schools which helps staff identify children with speech and language needs.
Letter to All Schools - Speech and Language Video Access [PDF 99KB]
Speech, language and communication are dependent on each other
We develop and use these in combination. To assess and monitor progress we usually divide skills into four main areas:
- receptive language
- expressive language
- speech
- social use of language
Children might have difficulties in one or more of the following:
1. Receptive Language
- attention and listening
- hearing and making sense of sounds in words
- understanding the meaning of words and concepts
- understanding structure and rules (phonology- the rules that govern how sounds are combined to form words, syntax - the rules governing word - order, and morphology- changes to words to support meaning, for example, adding "s" to indicate plural)
- remembering (working auditory memory)
2. Expressive Language
- decide what you want to say
- retrieve appropriate vocabulary
- use appropriate grammatical markers and sentence structure
- sequence and organise ideas - sentence and narrative level
3. Speech
Speech is the verbal expression of language and includes:
- select sounds( phonology)
- send instructions to speech muscles( mouth, throat and lungs) to create sounds
- articulate sounds ( involves tongue, lips, hard/soft palates, larynx)
- blending sounds together to formulate recognisable words
- use of appropriate intonation, pitch, volume, tone and fluency
4. Social use of language
The way people understand and use language appropriately in different contexts.
Recognising and demonstrating appropriate :
- non-verbal communication skills ( e.g. body language, facial expression)
- paralinguistic skills (intonation, pitch, volume, tone of voice)
- conversational skills
- asking for and giving information
The ability to communicate underpins social, emotional and educational development but SLCN can involve or be intrinsic to a wide range of difficulties which might involve:
- a primary or specific speech, language or communication difficulty which occurs when there are no other neurodevelopmental or social causes and is likely to be a long term need throughout secondary school
- a secondary need where difficulties occur in association with another difficulty, for example moderate learning or a sensory impairment
- delayed speech, language and communication need. The term delayed suggests that a pupil might "catch up", but if there are still delays at secondary school, the impact is likely to continue to affect all areas of development