Speech and language difficulties or delays may be abbreviated to SLCN (Speech, Language and Communication Needs) and they form one strand of SEN (Special Education Needs). Children with delayed or impaired speech and language skills frequently have other SEN problems as well – but language development often underpins all progress.
Early intervention should help to reduce frustration and allow children to interact better, develop their skills and learn more at school. Help may be sought from a Speech and Language Therapist/ Speech Language Pathologist. Parents and other adults who care for the child will be invaluable as well. Using appropriate resources is really important: the choice depends on the child’s age, general ability level, and the particular speech and language difficulty.
- The posts on this speech and language therapy blog comment on some aspects of child language or mention the difficulties some children have with language. Go to the latest post to see previous titles.
- Other topics are covered on the pages under SPEECH AND LANGUAGE RESOURCES. These have links to relevant free games, worksheets, activity books etc. which can be accessed on the TES site. To see all the titles of my free resources on TES, you can download the current INDEX of the resources I have on the TES site, or find them on that site by searching in the Resources. My resources are suitable for professionals and carers alike and have suggestions for use.
- I am committed to creating good resources to help children with delayed or disordered speech and language and worked in the speech and language therapy field for many years. The children who are failing may be listed as having Special Education Needs (SEN) but actually many young children who have speech/language delay or difficulty slip through the net. They don’t make the amazing progress with speech and language skills we see in their peer group but it isn’t necessarily obvious why.
Tip: Many of my resources can also be used with children who learn English as an additional language – referred to variously as EAL, ESL, or EFL. If they have achieved fluency in their home language at an age-appropriate level, they do not of course have a speech and language delay or disorder and do not need speech and language therapy. But they do need simplified materials for work on basic English vocabulary and language: the words and how to put them together. These resources are suitable for EAL teaching because:
- they are illustrated
- they feature basic early vocabulary
- the complexity of the sentence structure is carefully monitored.
languageisheartosay.com 