Speech, Language and Communication Needs in Children and Young People - Case Study Example

Speech, Language and Communication Needs in children and young people Department Introduction Some children and young people cannot express themselves effectively or may have difficulty in understanding whatever one say to them. It might be because of Speech, Language and communication needs (SLCN). The needs range from mild to severe levels. Most of these disorders are not open and one may be interpret them as the occurrence for other reasons like poor behavior. These children’s needs might be transient or persistent. They determine whether a child require immediate appropriate interventions or on-progress support to develop skills SLCN Speech refers to the ability of articulating sounds accurately and in their appropriate places in words (Doherty & Landells, 2006). These sounds must be the ones people use to communicate. Language refers to speaking and comprehending what the words of others. The main feature of language is the use of words in the building of sentences. Language requires the use of grammar to express own ideas and needs. According to Mercer (2000), the way people interact with others defines communication. Communication requires one to be able to question, clarify and describe own thoughts during expression. A good number of young people and children communicate freely and successfully through nonverbal means of communication (Chiat, 2000). They are able to use gestures, signs, electronic communication equipment, and books to communicate. Donaldson (1995) asserts that, SLCN is a disability that is not always easy to recognize. It is because children are proficient at hiding the true nature of their difficulties. These needs might be transient or persistent. Persistent needs usually require progressive support to develop skills in question. On the other hand, transient needs are resolvable with immediate and appropriate interventions. A group of around 5-7% of children starting education has SLCN in the absence of other difficulties (Bercow 2014). They have no general learning difficulty, or any sensory or physical impairment. Thus, Leonard (1998) indicates that, specific language impairment (SLI) is more common. Communication Communication is a process, or the act of using words, signs, sounds, or behaviors to express or share information or to express personal ideas, feelings, and thoughts to someone else (Doherty & Landells, 2006). The transfer of information between the two relies on the ability to understand the symbols, signs, or language used. In order to communicate efficiently, there should be no barriers (Stuart et al, 2002).A person with a speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) may not be able to communicate efficiently as in Sofia’s case. Several conditions may hinder communication among children that may result to (SLCN). The most common condition in children and young people is general learning difficulty. This condition varies from mild, moderate, severe, and profound. Other conditions that may cause SLCN include Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down’s syndrome, and sensory impairment (visual, hearing or multi-sensory), cerebral palsy, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) /Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), among others (Corbett & Perepa, 2007). Case study about Sophie After one term in Reception, Sophie’s ability both to comprehend and to use language in a variety of situations was a cause of concern to her teacher and a source of frustration to her parents. Her score on the Afasic Checklist was 16. She was referred to Speech and Language therapy for assessment. Outcome The results showed that she had difficulty with every aspect of language apart from her speech, which was clear. Her special education needs (SEN) statement, given based on severe language disorder, provided access to 15 hours a week of LSA time. The class teacher, the LSA, the SLT and her parents were all involved in planning a support package for her. The support plan provided for visual support in all areas of the curriculum and use of a visual timetable. She was also to be involved in small-group vocabulary teaching. An activity intended to raise her grammar. She had to undergo one to one speech and language therapy in schools with the LSA to provide follow up on specific concepts and language structures. Sophia also received a home-school book for communication between staff and parents. Comments Sophie would not communicate due to difficulty in her language. She had a severe language disorder that prevented her from free communication. Though the case was severe, the support package she received will help her improve communication (Speake, 2003). The package will take some time due to the severe nature of the language disorder. Ways to identify children and young people with SLCN It is not always easy to tell if a child is suffering from speech, language and communication need. The ease of identifying these disabilities depends on lots of things such as age, the difficulties they have and the level of severity (Martin & Miller, 1996). Some children such as Sofia have obvious and very easily identifiable needs from a very young age; to others this may take much time to identify. SLCN affects both understanding and the use of spoken language (Stuart et al, 2002). This disorder also associates with attention and listening problems, memory and organization problems. These needs affect the development of concepts crucial to learning activities. In a classroom setting, a child with SLCN might present attention and listening problem. For example, Sofia’s inability to comprehend was a cause of attention to her teacher. These problems are mainly the inability to listen or attend to spoken information. They may have difficulty in attending or staying on task thus notable flit from one activity to another. Slow responses to speaker’s instructions or not carrying out are some of the signs of lack of attention. Such kind of a child even finds it difficult looking to the speaker (Ripley & Barrett, 2008). Improper use of language is another way to identify that a child has special needs (Martin & Miller, 1996). Grammatical mistakes and immature spoken language characterize the inability to use proper language. For example, where a child requesting for a cake says ‘cake me want’, portrays immature spoken language. These students may not be able to tell information in the correct order. They may also have delayed speech sounds and some stammer though to some children; it is a normal development stage (Corbett & Perepa, 2007). According to Chiat (2000), children with SLCN are identifiable by their way of social communication. A victim may frequently interrupt the speaker with their own topic different from those in the subject of conversation. These children have difficulties in making friends as some are very shy thus ending up being lonely. They may present challenging behavior or appear rude in class. Some are very dependent on routines and changes in routine may upset them (Bishop, Norbury, and Tomblin, 2008). Difficulty in accessing the curriculum is another identifiable characteristic of children with SLCN (Closs, 2000). A slow academic progress might be because of these disabilities. They may struggle in simple and basic reading, spellings, and calculations. Most are unable to follow class instructions, making them out of place most of the time. They also find it difficult relating with others in classwork. How to support children with SLCN There are wide ranges of settings to assist children and young people who have SLCN. Any support to them such as in Sofia’s case must be early enough to avoid accelerated effects of SLCN (Closs, 2000). Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) can support those with SLCN. Children or young people with the needs may need to use a different way to communicate as well as trying to put more effort on talking. Other different ways of communication include signing, use of symbol book, charts or even electronic communication aid (Taylor & Francis, 2004). Those children with less severe needs may see it helpful to use signing and symbols. According to Ripley & Barrett (2008), teachers or the parents should set up the signs and symbols to assist those children at school and homes. For those children who have a severe condition, more technical AAC support (Speake, 2003), should be supplied based on the recommendation from a speech and language therapist. The support given by AAC depends on how severe the needs are their skills of coordination, whether they can be able to use a machine and how good in understanding aids (Martin and Miller, 1996). The provision of effective oral language environments can stimulate good communication skills. It requires teachers to understand how children develop their expressive and receptive language skills (Doherty & Landells, 2006). This can enable their development in a classroom context. In order to develop expressive language, teachers should give pupils time to settle. Within that time, the pupil should think of what they need to utter. They should find the right words to generate a sentence. To assist Sofia, for example, teachers can use multi-sensory teaching methods that help a child’s storage and retrieval of words in future (Ripley & Barrett, 2008). On the other hand, to support receptive skills teachers should have specific learning intentions for the class (Ysseldyke, and Algozzine, 2006). The teacher should check on whether pupils are listening and encourage active learning. A communication cookbook can help support development various skills in children with SCLN (Taylor & Francis, 2004). The communication cookbook contains about 20 activities that can help improve language. Such a book would help children who have these needs as Sofia in that it contains activities to develop attention and listening skills (Bercow, 2014). The book also has guidelines on how to build sentences, vocabularies, and enhance storytelling. It uses simple language in the present tense in order to support ‘here and how’ understanding. The book uses simple information in it that can help teachers and parents show children how to learn and understand whilst playing games. Children with these needs as Sofia should have the opportunity to access speech and language therapy in a setting that is appropriate to their needs (Ripley & Barrett, 2008). It may be at home, school, nursery, and if severe in a clinic setting. Therapists should work with others involved in the childcare including parents and professionals to enhance daily routines and programs to handle effectively those with the needs (Taylor & Francis, 2004). Creating awareness can help identify and support children with SCLN (Speake, 2003). Many parents may not be equipped with the knowledge to detect these needs before they get to severe levels. Thus, a suitable framework should exist to teach parents on how to figure out these signs in early stages. Suitable information and resources to parents and children caretakers would encourage their role as the primary communicative partners for their children (Ripley & Barrett, 2008). The move would mainstream the development status and educational attainment in children. SLCN in practical situations According to Bercow (2014), SLCN can result to significant difficulties in children and young people. Based on their estimation on prevalence studies and school census, they estimated that approximately 10% of all children suffer a long-term effect of SLCN. It means that two to three students in a classroom struggles to communicate. Most children with SLCN end up having difficulties throughout their life. Conclusion Identification of students with SLCN at an earlier stage is problematic. This poses a real threat in the wellbeing of children and young people. Teachers and parents should try to monitor the behaviors of the children earlier to curb SLCN before it gets to severe stage. It is also necessary to profile individual pupils’ strengths and needs. This would help in personalized learning and education plans. References Bishop, D. V. M., Norbury, C. & Tomblin, J. (2008). Understanding developmental language disorders-from theory to practice, Hove: Psychology Press Closs, A. (2000). Education of Children with Medical Conditions. London: David Fulton Corbett, C., & Perepa, P. (2007).Missing out? Autism, education, and ethnicity: The reality for families today. London: The National Autistic Society Chiat, S. (2000). Understanding children with language problems, Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press Doherty, I. & Landells, J. (2006). Literacy and Numeracy. In Clegg, J &Ginsborg, J (Eds).Language and Social Disadvantage.Chichester: Wiley. Donaldson, M. L. (1995). Children with language impairments: an introduction, London: Jessica Kingsley Taylor & Francis (2004). Supporting children with speech and language difficulties, London: Hull Learning Services. Leonard, L. B. (1998). Children with SLI. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press Martin, D. & Miller, C. (1996). Speech and language Difficulties in the Classroom. London: David Fulton Publishers Ripley, K., & Barrett, J. (2008). Supporting speech, language and communication needs, London: Sage Speake, J. (2003). How to identify and support children with speech and language difficulties, Hyde: LDA Stuart, L., Wright, F., Grigor, S. and Howey, A., (2002).Spoken Language Difficulties: Practical Strategies and Activities for Teachers and Other Professionals. London: David Fulton Publishers. Ysseldyke, J. And Algozzine, B. (2006). Teaching students with communication disorders,London: Sage publications Mercer, N. (2000). Words and minds: How we use language to think together. London:Routledge Bercow (2014) Impact of SLCN. Available at: http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/slts/impact-slcn Read More